Dawning
by e v i l - m u f f i n - 8
Summary: Their line of work doesn't give them a lot of time to make mistakes and learn from them. If you make one mistake out there - you're dead, or your teammate is dead. So when you find someone that you can share your fears with, and love until one of you stops breathing, you have to hold on to that. Even if that love is found with the last person you'd ever expect to be there.
1. Target Acquired

**New story - new couple - new ideas!**

**I'm going to kick myself for having two stories on the go... But I had to get it OUT.**

**Hope you enjoy.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story, but the plot and events that occur are all from my lil' ol' mind.**

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**Dawning: Chapter I**

**Target Acquired**

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Have you ever seen the dawn?

And not when you're groggy with lack of sleep and hectic, mindless obligations that you barely note that the sun is about to rise over the mountains. You haven't actually seen it unless you watch it with absolute clarity and perception. A dawning that you observe degree by degree, and realize the true beauty of the world is, and always has been, right in front of you.

The quiet, peaceful seconds when the only thing you can hear is the wind rustling through the leaves on the trees, and the quiet chirping of a bird that refuses to sleep. And then before your eyes; light. A soft, filtered light that slowly encompasses the whole valley the village is built in. The dark night sky slowly turning a soft blue as the sun began its rise to make an appearance.

A moment of unexplained newness, that you always knew was coming, but never expected the outcome to be so... appealing. The dawn brought a fresh slate, a new day that had no mistakes in it yet, a blank page in the diary of your life, lying waiting for you, perfect and unspoiled. You can almost forget what happened in the days previous, any grievances, any heartaches. But when the sun rises, and the sky is blue, all you can do is wait for the day to come to a close, so you can be up and watching the same, radiant scene all over again. _Whatever comes in between, well that's your life falling into place._

Her mother used to tell her that. Every day.

"Haruno." A voice interjected, disrupting her reverie. "Hold back with me." He turned to the rest of their group. "The rest of you, advance to the next checkpoint." His voice had always held a tone of clear superiority, even when it hadn't been his station. Through their childhood, their academy years together, and in the years up to that point, he had always held himself at a higher level than anyone else in their graduate year.

Except Naruto of course. Because Naruto was in a league of his own.

She flicked her mask up, resting it on the side of her head. "What is it?"

He watched her for a moment, taking into note the slight puffiness of her eyelids and the redness of her cheeks. He knew the signs of a woman after a night of crying. She could lie to him all she wanted, but he needed his team to be on their game. They couldn't have any mistakes, he wouldn't tolerate it.

"Are you sure you're fit to join us?"

He was her captain, and normally she gave him the respect that his position demanded. But the way he was coddling her like an infant and questioning her ability to perform made her want to use her legendary strength to send him flying into a tree. People died all the time. And people grieved, dealt with the loss, and moved on.

"I'm fine." She said coolly, slipping her mask over her features and dissipating in the air to join the rest of their teammates. He followed soon after, a disapproving frown on his face, hidden by the white mask.

They had been preparing for this mission for a month and a half. Studying the movements of their target, the movements of his guards, the change in shifts, the routine nightly inspections of the perimeter. They were so prepared, and he refused to have everything ruined because of an emotional woman.

He was in the room when she was told that her parents were dead. Murdered, on a simple, two day mission. She had been calm at first, like any Anbu was trained to be. Let go of all emotions, focus on being a precise, tactless killer. Get the job done without compassion getting in the way.

The moment the news was delivered, she had the face of a kunoichi that had been rigorously trained not to let her emotions get in the way. Though he knew that the second she was alone in the safety of her home she would let it all out. She would let her repressed emotions consume her. It didn't matter how stone cold she had become for the sake of her job, she was still a woman.

Neji didn't remember his mother, and what he knew of his father was select and muddled from an undeveloped child's brain. He didn't know if he would be emotional like she was, having lived with the love of your parents only to have it ripped away from you, or if it wouldn't have phased him. He had advised the Hokage multiple times that it was a bad idea to have her remain on the squad in her state, especially on such a delicately laid out mission. But no matter his own thoughts, he couldn't go against the word of his leader, even if it was questionable at best.

She'd specifically asked to remain on the mission, to not be given time for grieving and mourning. She didn't want to waste a month and a half of preparation because people thought she wasn't in the right state of mind. Sakura was using the mission as a distraction, though it should not have been treated as such.

He tried to be attune to his teammates emotions, so he could get someone else to help them and fix the situation - helping himself would undoubtedly make the situation worse - and get his team back on track as soon as possible. In normal situations, the shinobi would accept his proposal for them to sit out a mission and regroup, but Haruno Sakura was adamant that she didn't need to take time off, and had not so subtly told him that numerous times.

He'd sent Ino to talk to her, to try and convince her to take a few days before going out on another mission, but she refused.

Perhaps it was an issue of her proving to herself that she could continue on through anything. The last time she had been out of commission, it had been because of the Uchiha abandoning his village. She had been in a pitiful state, and she didn't attend training for almost a month. Maybe she was counteracting her inner demons that were taunting her to relapse into that state, determined to soldier on and complete the mission they had all been planning for so long.

Her reasoning didn't really matter to him. The only thing that mattered was her ability to complete this mission with no mistakes. He didn't want to fail the mission and realize that they would be faced with an even bigger challenge, invading a compound that was expecting an attack.

**xx**

The mission up until a certain point had been going flawlessly. The whole squad was moving together, the compound was functioning in the same way they'd been planning around, and they could move in, grab their target, and get out as efficiently as they'd been hoping.

Everyone was in position, Team A was inside the compound, ready to move in on their objective. Team B was waiting just outside, ready to move in at the slightest sound of a battle to ensure the security of their target and to provide back up for their comrades. Team C was with Neji, surrounding the compound in a much larger berth, assuring that nothing got in or out without them knowing. They had this compound under lockdown, and its inhabitants had no idea.

The first sign of a problem came from Team C, when Neji sensed that the compound had hundreds more mercenaries than they initially thought. After a month and a half of planning, he was going to make them postpone the entire thing because of a few hundred mercenaries that were on the other side of the compound from their target. Which is where the second problem came in; Sakura and her stubbornness.

"Team A, get out of there. The mission has been compromised." Neji's voice crackled over her earpiece. "Regroup at camp." Even through the microphone she could hear his I-told-you-so attitude. The mission hadn't been successful, the target was out of position. He was walking down the wrong hallway, and the thought of these mercenaries had their Captain spooked. And while it hadn't been her fault in any way, she couldn't stand the idea of Neji even placing a sliver of the blame on her. She couldn't stomach the idea of a month and a half going down the drain because some fat serial killer didn't walk to same path he had every day leading up to that moment.

"I've got a clear shot." She whispered, finger looping around the kunai strapped to her belt and pulling it from its holster. "I can take it." There were only two guards, and then their main target. It would be an easy, quick, kidnap and she would rejoin her teammates.

"Negative. Do not engage." His tone was final. But she could do this.

She was in the perfect position to drop down, incapacitate his guards, and take the man as a hostage. She had the skills, she could do it. "Engaging target in three..."

"I gave you an order." He stopped in his tracks, landing on a thick tree branch and signalling for the rest of Team C to stop with him.

"Two..."

"Haruno, get out of there. It's too dangerous."

"One."

"Sakura!" But his angry voice was lost on her as she dropped from the rafters. She would show Neji that she was capable of working under stress. People died all of the time. They'd all had to deal with it. And she would be damned if Neji thought she couldn't handle herself on a mission so soon after someone's passing.

She landed on one of the guard's shoulders, knocking him to the ground and expertly snapping his neck. She leapt forward, wanting to keep her element of surprise as she and the second guard tumbled to the ground. He drew a kunai as they landed, but she grabbed his wrist, snapping the bones there with a surge of chakra and grabbing the weapon that clattered to the wooden floor beside his head. She threw it to her right, aiming for the leg of her main target as he tried to run away from her. The sound of the man falling with a cry of pain was the only confirmation she needed that her hostage had been hit.

Summoning chakra to her fingertips, she pressed her hand against the guard's chest pinned beneath her, effectively stopping his heart.

Sakura remembered how people had laughed when they told her that her medical background wouldn't be of any use to her in a fight. And she remembered how she had explained to every single one of them who doubted her exactly which bone she would break in their body to make sure they could never walk again, which artery to cut that would make them bleed out in seconds, which nerves would stop their motor functions, which tendons would restrict the use of their hands.

And then she asked them all if they wanted to spar.

She never had anyone doubt her abilities again, and proved them all wrong once more when she was accepted into the Anbu as a fighter, with the additional bonus of an extense medical background.

Neji barking demands to the rest of their team to compensate for her disobeying his first orders echoed in her earpiece, but she ignored him, striding towards the man still trying to outrun her with a kunai in the back of his knee.

"I'm impressed." She said casually, grabbing the back of his collar and throwing him to the ground. "I just severed your lateral ligament, you shouldn't even be walking, let alone trying to run." Though it was admittedly a pathetic sight.

"What do you want from me?" His voice wavered. He was scared of her, and he had every reason to be. But she was used to the pathetic cries of 'who are you', 'what do you want', and to be quite honest, she found that they didn't phase her anymore. She had toughened up in her career, and now all she wanted to do was get the job done. It helped that the man lying helplessly before her, about to be begging for his life, was a self-proclaimed serial killer. Though she could see that such a lifestyle was in his past. He was a pudgy man now, with thick, sausage-like fingers that curled in front of his face, expecting the worst.

"All in good time, Nashimura." She pulled him forward suddenly, lifting his robust body up slightly from the ground so she could send a wave of chakra through his neck and spine, overloading his nervous system and rendering him unconscious.

"Sakura, _report._" From the tone of her captain's voice, she was going to guess that he had been asking her that for a while.

"Target acquired. Returning to camp."

"Team B, regroup with her outside of the compound." He was irritated, and she knew she was going to get an earful from him later, but for now she expected him to at least be grateful for her for finishing the mission. Even if he _had _deemed it unsafe.

It was a good thing she was strong, because lifting Nashimura onto her back any other way wouldn't have been possible. She would have had to wait there for the backup of her disgruntled teammates, and she didn't want to face them until they were at camp and she could easily excuse herself to be on guard duty all night. Which she was going to do anyways.

When she had her hostage securely on her back and was about to begin her exit from the compound and ascent up the mountain back to their camp, she froze, the ground starting to rumble under her feet.

_Uh oh._

They rounded the corner before she had a chance to conceal herself or jump out the nearest escape. Which happened to be a window twenty feet from where she was positioned. But there was no way she was going to fit out that with Nashimura as extra baggage.

Their cries of rage as they saw her with their leader were enough to send her running. She had to find a door, find a balcony, _something _to get her out of the building as soon as possible. If they knew she was there, they were going to call for backup. And she couldn't be anywhere close when that happened.

She turned a sharp corner, their hollers echoing down the hall - she knew they weren't far behind. But even with the added weight she was still fast, and if she could just find a way out they wouldn't be able to catch her. She had spent so many nights studying the blueprints of this place, but nothing was the same when you were actually inside, scrambling for an escape.

"Slight problem." She muttered into her microphone.

"We're on our way." One of the members from Team C said.

But Neji's much angrier voice drowned him out. "What's going on?"

She wanted to roll her eyes. Sometimes he was just so demanding. "There were a few extra soldiers hanging around."

"A few? How many?"

Sakura spared a brief glance behind her before she rounded another corner. At least two squadrons. "Maybe twenty?"

"Dammit, _Haruno_." A pause. "Take a left."

So he was using his Byakugan to spy on her now? She knew he had mastered his Byakugan to reach well over 8 kilometers. She wondered belatedly if he was already back at camp, or had moved closer to her position after she decided to disregard his direct orders.

But she knew he wasn't going to lead her into a trap, and she needed to ditch her twenty or so followers, so she skidded to a stop, making a harsh left turn and sprinting to the end of the hall. She could see a balcony, and she was going to jump.

She was so close, one more room to go through and she would be at the balcony. She heard a distinct yell from the pack rampaging behind her that made her blood run cold.

"Kasumo, she's heading in your direction." A beat. "We'll surround the area."

So they had a squadron ahead of her. "Neji?" She said frantically into her microphone as a thick, opaque fog rolled into her view. She'd taken note of the room she'd entered just before the fog blocked her vision, and she knew that if she kept running straight, she would be able to find her way out. She was waiting for Neji to tell her how many people were in that room, and if she was even going to make it in time.

"Six men in that room. Keep going straight. You're almost there."

All fog was made with moisture, and in an attempt to alleviate it she tapped into her water style, creating a visible path for herself as she sprinted through the room. She could see the light from the balcony now, and she sped up in anticipation. She was almost out; the mission was almost complete. None of them would follow her from a jump off the fourth floor. They were mercenaries.

Something slammed into her side, knocking her off course and forcing her into a wall. It broke her concentration and she was enveloped by the mist once again. She held tightly to Nashimura, refusing to lose him in this fog and slightly grateful that he took the brunt of the hit. But the wind was still knocked out of her. She jumped to her feet, now pushed off course.

"Move along the wall to your right. 25 meters." She started in that direction, suddenly grateful for Neji's presence, even if he was stoic and irritating at his best.

Something sliced into her side, and she grimaced in pain, but refused to call out. Chances were, they couldn't see her any more than she could see them, though she had the ability to sense their weak chakra levels, and the sounds of weapons hitting all throughout the room proved her right. There were six of them, positioned around the room in a hexagon, and she was lucky enough to have been positioned right in between two of them, the door so close. An easy escape.

Another weapon sliced her arm, and she was surprised that they were blindly throwing weapons around when they knew she had their leader on her back. He could already be hit, and she wouldn't know until they were safely out of the compound. She needed him alive, and she wondered if they knew that and were purposely trying to kill their own leader.

Then something bigger and longer cut into her side, and she let out a whimper of pain, trying to focus chakra from her body to that area to heal the damage. But as she reached for the weapon to remove it, she found it being pulled out itself.

A chakra signature flared to life in front of her and she felt herself panic slightly.

"Team C, head to the west wing. She's in the first room on your left."

His voice was almost comforting, and she knew that Team C was close for reinforcements, but that didn't exactly get rid of her immediate problem, the giant man standing before her with a sword still dangerously close to her chest. He must be the one that caused the fog, because there was no way in hell that he could see in this thing otherwise. What kind of jutsu was it?

"Anbu." His voice was deep and reverberated in her bones. "Interesting."

He shot the sword forward again, and she dodged to the side, kicking out at his knee and continuing along the wall as fast as she could. She heard a grunt, and she knew that her kick had connected with something.

Sakura drew two kunai from her belt and threw them back in the direction of the stronger chakra signal. The clang of metal hitting metal filled her ears, and she cursed him for blocking them. She threw three more interspersed with a few specifically aimed senbon. If she could hit his pressure points he would fall unconscious.

She could feel the chakra of her teammates, advancing quickly to her location and she let out a sigh of relief as she started to see the light from the outdoors again. The weapons were still being thrown all over the room, and she was still shocked that they hadn't stopped. How many weapons did they have?

Something grabbed hold of her ankle and she fell to the ground, Nashimura falling from her grasp as she was dragged a few feet back. Her teammates were in the room now, and she let out a low whistle, signalling them of her location as she kicked wildly at the beast with his hand wrapped around her ankle.

"Kotetsu, grab Nashimura and get out of there." Neji's voice barked over the earpiece. "Irochi, get Sakura."

Her eyes caught sight of a small, red glow as she was dragged back, and she cursed herself for not realizing it earlier. Each of the weapons that they threw were connected to chakra strings, and attached to the ends of the weapons were explosive tags, half of the tag still intact. Were they going to blow up their own compound, with their _own_ men still inside? Were they that desperate not to have Nashimura get out alive?

The sound of men's cries erupted through the room, and she knew that Kotetsu and Ichiro were slowly taking them out. She knew they would have noticed the tags and the strings already, and she could only hope that the timer on the tags gave her enough to get out of there.

With the cover of the men's screams, she turned around in her opponent's grasp, sending a chakra infused kick to the side of his head, smirking as it connected and she surged forwards. She sensed Kotetsu's chakra outside on the balcony, and she prayed that he had Nashimura safe.

Irochi's hand came in contact with her shoulder and she gripped his forearm as the two of them leapt to the high rafters of the room, escaping the chakra strings and enabling them to move quicker. "Kotetsu, move to camp." Sakura said hurriedly, catching sight of one of the tags burning through the fog. It was about to explode, and take the entire room with it.

The alarmed noises from their enemies in the room told them that it was time for them to leave as well.

"Through the roof." Irochi said suddenly, and she realized he was right. They weren't going to have enough time to exit through the balcony. She nodded once, squeezing his forearm as her acceptance. "On two."

"One."

"Two." She released him and braced both of her forearms over her head, using them to take the brunt of the force that shattering the wooden ceiling would require.

It took less than ten seconds for the building below them to explode, and an extra push of energy from the explosions sent her flying further into the air. She twisted her body, attempting to straighten and avoid the pieces of wood that were moving at too fast speeds around her. If one of those hit it would be almost as bad as a kunai, possibly worse depending on the size.

Sakura tried her best to land on her feet, but the force at which she was falling caused her to lose her footing and duck and roll to avoid tumbling uncontrollably down the hill. The only reason she stopped sliding was her coming into contact with a thick pine tree. She grunted at the pain, and gasped as she found her eyes drawn back to the compound. Pieces of wood and ash were falling around her, and what had once been a tall tower extending from the compound had disappeared, leaving only the stone foundation it had been built on.

A small smile graced her face as she located Irochi about twenty feet away, moving towards her. He looked a little filthy, but otherwise unharmed. They'd finished the mission, and their enemies had succeeded in blowing up their own compound.

And while the explosion hadn't been part of the plan, but an intentional thing exercised by their enemies, it did make escaping back to camp a lot easier.

Everything had worked out just fine.

**xx**

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**-EM**


	2. Her Mistakes

**Chapitre Dos.**

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**Dawning: Chapter II**

**Her Mistakes**

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Everything had not worked out, not in the eyes of their Captain. His expression as they made their way into the camp, having joined up with Kotetsu and Nashimura on the road, tipped her off that she was in deep trouble.

He always had somewhat of a scowl on his face, but it was hardened this time, and with his arms crossed over his chest he actually looked intimidating. But she wasn't scared of him.

Neji opened his mouth to speak, but his brows furrowed together and he stopped; priorities rearranging themselves as he took in her wounds. "You're injured."

She nodded once. "I can heal them all. I'll just need a little rest."

His narrowed eyes moved to appraise her side, where the material of her white chest guard was stained with blood. She knew she probably looked like a mess, she felt sore all over, and she would heal herself when she got enough energy back. But the one on her side was causing her more discomfort than she was letting on.

And somehow Neji knew that.

"We need to get that one cleaned up right away."

She knew from the way she hadn't been able to heal it when it first happened that it was going to be a pain for her to heal even when she was at full energy. So she conceded, following Neji and Ichiro to her tent.

While Sakura was the main medic on the squad, Irochi had the next most experience. He'd trained in the hospital with her for almost two years before he decided that he couldn't handle the weight of losing patients. He was a sensitive soul, and she often wondered if being a shinobi was the right thing for him to do. Eventually, after taking some time off, he'd chosen a new path; that of a strategist and focused more on his ninjutsu now than anything. But he still had the background they needed.

She got a tent all to herself, which she was grateful for, while the rest of them had to share with one other person. But the Hokage had ensured Sakura always got her own, probably to deter any men from trying to put the moves on her while they were sleeping. But they were Anbu, they were mature, adults. Most of the time.

Sakura pulled the chest guard off, discarding it to the side as Irochi leaned forward to look at her more intensely. He pushed her black mesh shirt up and she held it away from the wound, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as Neji's eyes surveyed the rest of her injuries. She had two kunai wounds, one on each of her sides, the sword wound that Irochi was investigating, and a few minor scrapes from senbon everywhere else.

"I can feel chakra in here. Not yours." Irochi said, meeting her eyes for a brief second.

Sakura nodded. "I couldn't heal it when it first happened, I assumed he'd put some form of chakra block on it." She sighed. "There's nothing you can do for it now. When I'm more rested I can try to expel the chakra from my body and repair any existing damage-"

Irochi frowned reprovingly. "It can't be healed by chakra at the moment. And if I leave it like this you risk running an infection."

"I know what could happen." She sneered.

Neji's deep timbre interrupted them. "Clean it. Bandage it." He said to Irochi. "I can't have you useless here, Haruno."

She narrowed her eyes at him and let out a breath of frustration. "It's fine."

"I'm not giving you an option." He said harshly, all business. He nodded once to Irochi, confirming that his orders were to be followed before leaving the tent.

"Ass." Sakura rolled her eyes and pulled her medic bag to Irochi's side, glaring up at the roof of the canvas.

He smiled, pushing his white blonde hair out of his face as he dug into her bag. "I think you scared him."

She nearly scoffed. "I think he was worried about me ruining his perfect track record."

She closed her eyes as Ichiro started to work. Neji was a perfectionist. He'd never failed a mission, and rarely came back with someone on his team injured. They'd been on a squad together more than a few times since her initiation into Anbu, and she had performed exceptionally on every one of them. It was unfair that now he was doubting her abilities because he thought she was emotionally unstable and going to affect his perfect score.

Sakura could handle herself, she'd proven that. Her being injured was a side-effect that none of them had counted on. But if she hadn't gone in and captured Nashimura when she did, then they would have had to revise all of their plans. Another month of preparation. She got the job done; he should have been happy.

She hissed in a breath as he started to stitch her side up. "Sorry." He murmured under his breath. She'd been through more painful things than a few stitches before, it was nothing she couldn't handle, but the sharpness of it caught her off guard. "There we go. All done." He said after a minute, surveying his work before wrapping the bandages around her side.

"Thanks, Irochi." Sitting up, she grimaced at the slight pain the stitches caused her. "It's been a while since I've had to be stitched up the old fashion way."

It was still a surprise to her that Irochi was in Anbu. He seemed so young, and when he wasn't in a serious shinobi mode, he often looked like a spooked deer. He reminded her of herself, when she was a genin. Always hesitant to speak her mind, always leaning on other teammates, never taking risks and never wanting to stand out and be the shining star. They were wallflowers, well she used to be.

Naruto said she changed after Sasuke left, though she denied that as often as she could.

When she got out of the tent, she was surprised to find that the sun was already setting and a fire had been lit in the center of their camp. Nashimura was still gagged and tied up, leaning pathetically against a tree away from the fire. Sakura looked to Neji, who seemed to be watching the rest of his squad as they exchanged quiet conversations and the occasional laugh.

One of their squad, a man named Hiro, clapped a hand on her shoulder as he passed by. "Quick thinking there, Sakura-chan. Saved us a lot of trouble."

She smiled in spite of herself, and didn't miss the dark glare Neji sent him as he sat back down to the fire. The remaining squad members joined in praising her ability to get out alive. They weren't praising her, however, for disobeying their Captain, because that would have ended in a very pissed off Hyuuga and a bad review for everyone.

Their praises died down when Neji stood up, tossing what was left of his food into the fire. He turned to look at her, a glare fixed on his face. "You'll take first watch."

Sakura met his pale eyes, giving him a single nod before turning away from the camp, fastening her weapons belt back around her hips as she walked.

She actually liked being on watch, not that she would ever let Neji know that. He would never use it as a form punishment again. Sometimes it was hard to be the only female around a bunch of men that often wound up turning genuine, nice conversations into something about sex, and it gave her some time to herself. Or, as she planned tonight to be, all night to herself.

It gave her time to think, to reflect, and to have some quiet time to herself. She was alone on watch until the moon rose to its highest peak in the sky. The time when someone would come and relieve her. But she would turn them away. She didn't mind spending the entire night on watch, as long as it meant not having to see her Captain.

As her luck would have it though, he was the one that came to relieve her. He stood beside her, watching the stars from their perch on the mountainside for a moment before breaking the silence.

"What were you thinking." He demanded, hands clasped behind his back.

She didn't grace him with a response right away. "I had an opening."

His eyes flicked to hers, and his eyebrows were drawn together in a frown. "You disobeyed a direct order, _Haruno_. You put the mission in danger-"

"I completed the mission successfully." She retorted.

"And almost got yourself killed!" He snarled. She rarely saw Neji get mad like that, but she supposed that showing up in camp with a nasty gash in your side and half of the compound destroyed could make him a little irked after having a flawless plan to run by. "I told you that it wasn't safe anymore. I knew there were more men than we initially thought and you moved in anyways!"

She watched him for a moment, trying to calm herself down so her temper wouldn't take control. "It's over and done with, Neji. Nothing you say to me now can change that."

He rose a sculpted brow. "And you think you can just get away with it? That since everything worked out okay in the end that you can just get out unscathed?" He moved closer to her, his frame towering over hers in a display of power and dominance. "Whether you like it or not, I am your superior. I am the Captain here, not you. And that means you listen to _me_."

She resisted the urge to make a snide comment and looked away from him, focusing on the trees to her right. She clenched her jaw and nodded once.

"I knew you weren't ready for a mission so soon."

"I'm fine, Neji!" She yelled, pushing him and forcing him to take a step back. "My actions on this mission had nothing to do with the news I got back home. I moved in because I had an opening, and I wanted to complete that mission and bring this asshole to justice."

He watched her with a sickeningly calm look and she wanted to wipe it off his face.

"Damn you for thinking that I wasn't ready. I can handle myself. I know how to keep my personal life and my work life separate!"

Neji held her eyes for a long time, studying her, analyzing her like he always did. Even when she forced herself to look away again, she knew he was still watching her. No matter what she said and what she did, she'd suffered two great losses in her life, and there was no way it had no affect on her.

"Go get some sleep, _Haruno_." She lifted her eyes briefly for a moment before turning away from him and heading back to camp. She knew she screwed up. She should have listened to her squad captain and fallen back to camp so they could regroup and formulate a new plan. And Neji was right, she realized she should have waited a bit longer before she went out on a mission, she just didn't have it in her to let him know that; her ego wouldn't let her. But then, hindsight was always clearer.

Her parents were gone from this world, gone from this life, gone from her, and she had been helpless to save them. They'd gone an a D-ranked mission, just as something to pass the time, they were dying of boredom from being cooped up in the house. And just like all of her genin missions, something had gone terribly wrong. They had been ambushed in the safety of a village. Murdered because they were seemingly in the way.

The culprits hadn't been caught yet, but the Konoha Interrigation Squad had a witness. And when they finally got her to speak, when they found out who had murdered her parents and why, Sakura would stop at nothing to see them brought to justice just like Nashimura.

She had trained so hard to contain her emotions so things wouldn't upset her, but hearing that both of her parents had died made her question all the what ifs. What is she'd been there? What if she had gone with her parents like they'd asked, as a little family vacation? Would she have been able to save them, or would she be dead as well?

She laid down on her bed roll and couldn't shake the tears as they pooled in her eyes. It didn't matter how cool and composed she was when she dealt with their enemies. When she was alone, she was a mess and it drove her nuts.

Her parents hadn't deserved to be murdered, they were innocent people, just trying to help a nearby village harvest after a mini drought. But whoever killed them hadn't cared.

Sakura rolled on her side, drifting off to sleep and dreaming of vengeance and justice.

**xx**

Neji continued to ignore her for the entire trip back to Konoha, which thankfully was not a long one. They handed Nashimura to the KIS under Ibiki's instruction and waited for the outcome of their 'conversations'. Sakura had worked with Ibiki for one summer, as an assignment from Tsunade, and she knew that their conversations were brutal but necessary. It got them the information they needed, and they just hid the actual procedures from the unsuspecting populace.

Instead of waiting around the Anbu tower while Neji filled out the mission report, she went to lounge around her apartment, waiting the inevitable summon to the Hokage Tower after Neji had submitted the paperwork or gone straight there himself to complain.

It was Kakashi that actually showed up at her door, his book tucked neatly into his flak jacket pocket instead of his hand. "Someone got a certain Hyuuga riled up."

All of her confidence and bravado she'd displayed when Neji confronted her in camp had dissipated, and she was left feeling like a child waiting in the hallway for detention. "Did he yell?" She wanted to gauge how mad he still was, and if he would refuse to have her on his squad ever again. Neji always had the most exciting missions, and it would be disappointing to know that her poor attitude in a delicate situation had ruined her chances of ever partaking in one again.

"Have you ever heard him yell?" He said. It was a rhetoric question because under normal circumstances, Neji was one of the most irritatingly calm people she'd ever met. "They both seemed bothered though. And worried, maybe. We all are."

Sakura grimaced. "I'm fine, Kakashi. No one needs to be worried."

She walked with Kakashi to the tower, conversing in small talk as he tried to make light of the situation they both know was a bad mistake. Disobeying orders could lead to people dying, missions failing, and even if nothing bad happened on this particular mission, it wasn't a good habit to get into.

When she stood outside the doors, Kakashi left her, knowing that it was to be a private conversation. She pushed them open and stepped in, not surprised at the disappointed look she got at all.

"Sakura-chan."

His voice wasn't cheery, it wasn't light and joking, he was all business. "Hokage-sama."

"You know I hate it when you call me that."

"Sorry, Naruto." She still hadn't gotten used to seeing her best friend in the red robes of the Hokage, and he was wearing his hat, which she knew he hated. But still, a smile made its way to his face, though it wasn't his signature grin, the one that could make anyone smile along with him.

"You know why you're here."

Sakura sighed and nodded. "I was out of line."

He shrugged but nodded. "It's been a rough week. It's no surprise that emotions were running high. Especially after..."

Losing her parents. Losing the two people who raised her, cared for her, made her into the woman she was standing before him.

"That's no excuse." She would have preferred to be yelled at and told how completely disgraceful and inappropriate her actions were—because they had been. She decided to remind him of this, because obviously his fondness was clouding his judgment. "What I did was unacceptable."

"You're my best friend, Sakura, and you know I love you." He sighed, and his air of professionalism returned. "But I can't just ignore what happened. The incident will be noted in your record, and you'll have to be suspended from regular duty. At least until you're in the right state of mind."

_Suspended from regular duty_. She'd expected it, but it was still tough to swallow.

"On another note," He said, his smile breaking out once again. He never was good at giving punishments. "Want to go for ramen Sunday morning?"

"Sure." She said quietly. At least it would give her a few days to pick herself up.

She wished she could be cocky and arrogant and pretend that it didn't matter that she'd disobeyed her Captain because everything worked out in the end. Instead she was left feeling like a disappointment, to her parents, to her friends, and to herself. She would never make a childish mistake like that again, never risk the respect she'd earned through hard work.

And despite how much she despised his own arrogance and similarities to her childhood crush, she would apologize to Neji, and try to make things right.

**xx**

She found him on the training fields the next, engaged in a taijutsu match with Kiba Inuzuka that had apparently gotten so intense that the two of them had decided to remove their shirts. Which hadn't escaped the notice of two, younger kunoichi who had stopped their own spar to ogle at the pair on the field next to them.

Summer in Konoha was unforgiving, it was a bone dry heat that quite often came without a soft breeze to lighten the effects. She herself was feeling sweat trickle down her back from just walking out to the fields. She parked herself by their gear, stifling a laugh at the two girls whispering to each other as they watched these older, attractive men strain themselves under the summer heat. She remembered doing exactly that with Ino, and she almost wished she could go back to those days, to the innocent, untainted teenage years.

They didn't notice her until Neji had struck Kiba's side, thus ending their spar. Neji noticed her first, watching her with a mixture of contempt and surprise at her showing up out here.

"Hey, Sakura." Kiba said, raising his hand in greeting. They walked over to her, and while Kiba was unashamed to remain shirtless, Neji half-pulled his robed shirt on, leaving the front open to retain the option of a circulating breeze. "What's up."

She turned her attention to Neji while Kiba drank from his canteen. "Can I talk to you?"

He leveled his gaze on her and shrugged. "I don't know, can you?"

Sakura ignored his comment and the way Kiba choked on his water as he tried to chuckle and stood up, pulling off her own vest, leaving her in somewhat of a sports bra. Ino insisted that she get one and wear it when she trained because apparently it helped to regulate temperature. Whatever that meant. Sakura deduced that Ino just liked to wear it because it showed off a lot of skin, but Sakura preferred it because it was actually quite comfortable. She kept an eye on Neji, but spoke directly to Kiba.

"Do you want to spar, Kiba? I'd hate to have come out here for nothing." Neji continued to stare, something unreadable passing over his face that made him smirk.

"Sure thing." He downed the rest of his canteen and stood up, moving to follow her out onto the field, but Neji stopped him. He turned to his friend in surprise.

"I'll spar." Kiba opened his mouth to protest but Neji silenced him with a raised hand. "Why don't you go and get more water."

Sakura watched as Kiba left the training grounds, smirking as the two girls started to follow after him, torn between watching Neji and stalking Kiba. She turned her attention to the Hyuuga in front of her, shielding her eyes from the sun as she watched him.

"You ready?" If he wanted to spar with her, then they'd spar. And she would make herself feel a bit better if she beat him.

"Yes."

He disappeared.

And so did his chakra signature. Sakura was completely unable to sense him; she had to go on combat instinct alone. She crouched lower into her guarded stance, ready to move at the slightest signal. At the same time, she didn't want to embarrass herself by spooking over nothing, so she waited, senses on overdrive.

She couldn't lose this spar, no matter how petty it seemed. When she beat him, Neji would realize that maybe her judgement on that mission wasn't so rash. That she was talented and had a level mind and could make decisions like that. While she wasn't trying to justify what she did, winning would just... it would make things seem a little lighter for her, make her feel less guilty.

Suddenly he was right at her side, aiming a roundhouse kick at her head. Sakura blocked with her elbow and whirled to face him. Neji dropped and spun, kicking out his other leg to sweep her feet out from under her. She flipped over backwards to evade and then kicked at his face before he could rise, forcing him to roll sideways. He leapt to his feet and immediately came at her again.

They sparred back and forth for the next several minutes, trading blows and blocks in a savage dance. Sakura rushed forward so fast she appeared to flicker, and jumped at Neji. He saw her knee raise and prepared for the kick to his torso, but he didn't notice her elbow flying at his blind side until she was right on him. She hit him with her knee and elbow at the same time.

He grunted and staggered a little, and she took advantage of those few seconds to kick him again squarely in the chest. There wasn't enough chakra behind it to do damage, just enough to send him flying back a few meters, and enough to make her feel damn good about it. He quickly regained his balance and stance, and Sakura could see the rage in his eyes.

Broken apart for a moment, they squared off again, mutually catching their breath. She noted the sweat glistening on his skin, he'd long since discarded his shirt once more, falling prisoner to the sun's heat.

"It's been a while since we sparred, Haruno."

A while - which actually meant since their academy days. They hadn't sparred with each other much at all. But she had sparred with Hinata many times, so she understood his skills and talents well. But for some reason the way he said it - as if despite her landing hits on him, he still expected her skills to be vastly inferior to his - ground on her nerves. "Don't insult me by continuing to fight without your Byakugan."

"That wasn't my intention," he said, beginning to circle around her, activating his bloodline.

Sakura automatically mirrored his movements in the opposite direction, and wasn't surprised when he disappeared again. He reappeared to her left and his assault was so fast and hard that she took a kick to the shoulder that knocked her to the ground. She rolled back to her feet, ready to defend his follow up, but he'd disappeared again. The next time she was ready when he reappeared and hurled a barrage of senbon in her direction.

She dodged, flipped, and flickered around the clearing as Neji sent waves of weaponry her way, using a jutsu to multiply them. The came at her in dozens, and there were more and more each time, until she could no longer evade them with speed and agility alone, but had to use weapons of her own to deflect them.

Then Neji was running towards her at insane speeds that she could hardly keep an eye on. She slammed a chakra enhanced fist into the ground, creating a series of fissures that would disrupt his movements as shards of the earth split into the air, but he merely jumped around them.

And then he was fighting her hand to hand, and while she knew that this was her strength as well, Neji was much more versed in the art of taijutsu than she was. His hands moved at incredible speeds as she blocked with her forearms and dodged with her entire torso.

But then he landed one hit on her, and she knew the spar had ended. His fingers had managed to slip past her guard and paralyze her flow of chakra to her right, dominant arm, and in a second she felt the flow cease to her left arm as well.

He took a step back, his breathing coming in shorter breaths. At least she'd forced him to exert energy, even if she had lost.

"Impressive." Kiba said, moving towards the two of them, two full canteens of water in his hands. "I haven't seen a fight like that in a while."

Even as he spoke praise to each of them, they couldn't take their eyes off of each other. Sakura was watching him with a mixture of respect and bitterness, and Neji was watching her with the unchanging, steely eyes that he always did. She only wished she could know what he was thinking.

Her eyes wandered from his face, down to his exposed, toned and sweaty chest. They wandered down his toned arms that were almost always hidden under a shirt and marveled at how muscular and fit he really was. She tensed, and immediately forced her eyes back to his face.

When he took a few steps closer to her, she panicked, taking one step back. "Do you want your chakra back?" He said calmly, his hand reaching out to land on her arm. His touch sent a shock of blistering heat through her, and she forced herself to ignore it. He reached out with his other hand as well, though as quickly as he touched her he'd moved away, pulling on his shirt and lifting the canteen to his lips.

_What the hell was that? _She thought to herself, still watching Neji curiously. Had she just been... did she just find Neji attractive?

It was admiration, she concluded. Even if she despised him most of the time, she still admired his skills.

She went straight to the hospital after her spar, trying to distance herself from all things Neji. She'd forgotten why she went out there in the first place; to apologize. Not to spar half-naked and end up ogling her Captain.

Sakura let out a frustrated sigh as she sat down in her desk, wishing that there was a stack of paperwork for her to sort through as a distraction. But Naruto never gave her the same amount of paperwork that Tsunade always did. He was surprisingly on top of it and what he did give to her she always finished that day.

Changing into her medic uniform, she pulled out one of her clipboards and left her room, deciding that rounds might be a better, more effective way to distract herself.

* * *

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**-EM**


	3. Hazy Desire

**Remember to review at the end of this chapter. **

**Reminder: A HAPPY AUTHOR WITH REVIEWS IS A HAPPY STORY WITH UPDATES.**

* * *

**xx**

**Dawning: Chapter III**

**Hazy Desire**

**xx**

Ino had been sitting in her office for half an hour, tapping her nails noisily on the edge of her desk as Sakura read and re-read her rounds. Deciding that Mr. Yashu was probably better to be on antibiotics for a short while longer rather than taking him off right away, and that it was almost time for Mae to have her cast off.

She was almost oblivious to Ino's impatient gestures, tapping her nails, tapping her feet, twirling her hair and crossing and un-crossing her arms and legs. What else could she do to get the girl's attention?!

"Sakura!" She looked up in surprise, startled out of her musings. Ino leaned forward and wrinkled her nose at the paperwork."What the hell are you doing?"

"Work."

A sigh. "Are we going to stay here all night or are we going out?"

Sakura sucked in a long breath and put her papers back down on her desk, rubbing a hand over her face. "I don't know, Ino."

"I know you're upset over what Neji did-"

Sakura shook her head. "I'm not upset."

"Uhm, okay." Ino said with a chuckle. "However you're feeling, you can't sulk around. We're going out tonight. You just got back from a successful mission. It's tradition."

"Ino... I don't really feel like it."

"See! I said no sulking! We can raid my closet. Make you look so damn fine that Neji won't even know what hit him when you walk in."

Her mind drifted back to the spar earlier that day. How she'd been caught off guard by Nejij's looks. She didn't want to risk that happening again, she didn't want to see him. "I'm not going if he's there."

"That's childish and you know it!" Sakura shot her a look. "He's brilliant," Ino insisted. "No matter how much you despise him."

"Yes." Her words came grudgingly, and she held up a hand to enumerate points on her fingers. "Also arrogant, impolite, and manipulative."

Ino remained undaunted. "Those aren't necessarily bad things in our line of work, Sakura."

"They're annoying things that he tries to spin as this stupid, calm, devil-may-care charm." She turned her attention back to her paperwork. "You need to care about your team to be a good Captain. All he cares about is the mission." She didn't know why that had come out. He had cared - he cared enough to try and stop her from ruining his track record. He cared enough to force her to get stitches when there was no way to heal it with chakra. When he cared, he showed it in annoying ways.

"He might not even be there." She lied. Shikamaru had already told her that the guys were planning to meet up a bit earlier to hang out. They hadn't all been together in a while. "He hates bars."

Sakura let out a sigh. "Alright, alright." If he was there, it would be easy enough to just turn away, strike up a conversation elsewhere and ignore him.

Ino let out a shrill squeal of excitement and grabbed Sakura's arm, pulling her out of her office, down the hallway and out of the hospital. "To my closet we go!"

**xx**

Neji was a focused man. He was attentive to the situations at hand, and was always alert to his surroundings. However, his entire day had been plagued by a fiery blush-haired kunoichi. He'd been thinking of their spar all day, unable to forget that she had landed a few good hits on him, and was a surprisingly formidable opponent. He knew she was talented, she was in Anbu and had been on his squad multiple times since her initiation, but to know that she was almost at his level... it pushed him to want to train harder. He couldn't even remember the last time someone had actually kept up with his pace and been able to block most of his taijutsu attacks. But then, he really didn't spar with a lot of people.

"Neji?" He turned to Shikamaru who was looking at him in his usual, lazy manner. "You alright there?"

"Yes." He responded, tipping his drink to his lips and finishing the remainder of the alcohol as the bartender poured him a new one.

Shikamaru shrugged, deciding that it was better not to involve himself in whatever was bothering his friend. If Neji wanted to tell him about it, which was unlikely, then he would. It would only be a drag for both of them if he pestered. "Heard your flawless track record almost ended."

Neji scowled. It seemed that even when he was with his friends now, trying to unwind after their missions, she would come up in conversation. "Almost. I salvaged what I could of the situation."

Their brief conversation was interrupted as Kiba and Chouji stumbled over to them, both clearly feeling the effects of the excessive amounts of alcohol they had both consumed, grinning and relying on each other to keep themselves upright. "You two," Kiba shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at them. "You did this to us." But through his slurred speech, it came out as 'Yeww did thiiztu uz.'

The Nara and Hyuuga exchanged amused glances, turning to face their friends. "We did?"

Chouji nodded, joining his friend in the accusatory pointing, and then began rambling off about something. That's when she walked in.

Seeing her out at the bar wasn't out of the ordinary. It was customary for shinobi and kunoichi alike to let loose at the bar with their comrades after successful, or sometimes unsuccessful missions. It was the designated place that they went to enjoy the company of friends and have a few drinks. In fact, he'd seen her there plenty of times, she'd even joined him and their squad quite often.

But tonight, seeing her there, under all the watchful and hungry eyes of men, he suddenly felt odd.

She was hot-headed, that was for sure, and she was volatile, just like her mentor always was, but after their sparring session and the knowledge that she actual held the potential to beat him, he realized that she wasn't just any other kunoichi. She was talented in many aspects, and didn't deserve to be eyed as the piece of meat and a one night stand that he knew a lot of the men in the bar were envisioning her as.

Including Kiba, apparently.

"Damn." He slurred, following Neji's eyes to the pinkette and her blonde bombshell of a friend. "She can kick Neji's ass and look fine in a dress." Again, around his slurred speech, Shikamaru and Neji had to decipher exactly what he was saying. He was right, but the dress choice was less than practical. It was too tight, though he knew that women liked to show off their curves and to be fair it was doing a good job. It was too short, which was another attempt that women used to make their legs look longer - along with the high, strappy shoes she was wearing. But it was doing it's job well; every man in the bar was dropping their conversations to watch the two of them walk by.

Shikamaru turned a curious eye to the Hyuuga. "The two of you sparred?"

"I won." He concluded, not feeling the need to discuss anything further. The only reason Kiba was having such delusions that ended in her 'kicking his ass' was because she had landed one or two good hits and hadn't been wearing much of anything. But that wasn't enough to justify a win. The victor had been obvious.

Chouji called to Ino across the bar, and it didn't escape his notice the way Sakura acted. Their arms were linked, and he noted how she tensed and her hand reached over to touch Ino's arm. A few words were exchanged, though the bar was too loud for him to hear anything, followed by Ino smacking Sakura's hand away. The two girls started to make their way over and Neji spun around in his chair to face the bar again, downing his drink in two gulps and signalling for the bartender to get him a refill.

"Hey, baby." Chouji slurred, wrapping his arms around Ino's waist and pressing a sloppy kiss to her cheek.

She sent an accusing look at Shikamaru, who quickly lifted his hands in the air. "I had nothing to do with it."

Sakura contained a giggle as Ino led her drunk boyfriend to the safety of a bar stool. "That's what you said the last two times, and Chouji begs to differ every morning."

Shikamaru shrugged. "He challenges me to drinking contests. The man can eat like a bottomless pit, but when it comes to drinking... he's a cheap date."

Kiba let out a howl of laughter, slinging his arm around Sakura's shoulders. "Take care of me, Sakura." He whined, puckering his lips. She was about to let him down gently - it seemed like every time she found Kiba at the bar he was throwing himself at a woman, canine instincts desperate for attention and too often she found it was herself - but someone else did it for her.

"Down, boy." Neji muttered, his low voice quiet among the loud atmosphere of the bar. But she'd heard it, and she watched as he grabbed the collar of Kiba's shirt and sat him forcefully in one of the chairs away from her. It was meant to be a kind gesture, but she didn't need or want his help. She'd dealt with Kiba for a long time, and knew that the poor guy was just lonely. Hell, she was lonely too.

"I can handle myself." She said coolly, taking the stool next to him and waving the bartender down for a drink.

"So you keep saying." She shot him a glare and downed the shot of sake that sat in front of her. Neji rose an interested brow. She had clearly inherited her drinking habits from her mentor as well. Sakura waved at the bartender for two more shots, and she downed them easily without even flinching. "Might want to slow down." He advised as she asked for a bottle of the sake instead of a mere shot.

She shrugged. "Why? It's not like I have any missions to go on." He narrowed his eyes at her. She was going to bitter about that for a while. As if she had caught his glare, she turned an eye to him. "Match me."

"What?"

"Match me. Drink for drink." Neji brought his cup to his lips again, taking a small sip. "If I beat you, you tell Naruto that my actions weren't completely unfounded."

"No."

"If you beat me, I won't ever talk about how you complained to the Hokage and got me suspended from missions again."

Neji scoffed. "Those aren't exactly fair wagers."

"Take it or leave it."

He was intrigued, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to face the aftermath of her when she lost. He'd acquired a tolerance for alcohol over the years, and he wasn't sure if Sakura's binge drinking could keep up. But he was never one to turn down a challenge, especially to a woman who was clearly intent on beating him at something.

"Okay."

"What about me? I want to drink with her too!" Kiba whined from his spot beside Shikamaru.

Sakura laughed, a sound that Neji was startled by. It was a captivating noise, and the way her smile lit up her face when she did it added to the music. He immediately tore his eyes away from her. Perhaps he had too much to drink already. "I think you're finished there, Kiba."

She turned to the bartender, gesturing for two shots of sake for each of them, along with one regular drink. When she looked at him, there was victory in her eyes, like she already knew she had this contest in the bag and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Ready?"

Neji gave a curt nod, and they slammed back a shot.

Two and a half hours later, they were still at it.

"Ready to quit?" She asked with a hiccup, slamming down another shot. Sakura looked to Neji, then at the abundance of shot glasses they'd accumulated in front of them.

He gave a terse shake of his head, signalling the bartender for another bottle.

She looked around, realizing that most of their friends were already gone, save for Kiba, who was unceremoniously being dragged out by Shikamaru, muttering about how he always ended up having to take care of him.

"When did you start drinking so much?" She asked, her words slurring together. His eyes softened for a split second as he looked at her, before harshly being turned into eyes of indifference as he looked down at his shot. "What is it?" Her concern was real then, he had actually shown an emotion and she was determined to find the root of it.

"A story for another night." He consumed his shot and grabbed the bottle of sake.

She scoffed. "If you've drunk this much and still don't have loose lips to let the secret out, there's no way in _hell_ you're going to tell me willingly another night."

A ghost of a smile flashed across his face as he poured them both another shot.

**xx**

They supported each other as they stumbled out of the bar, all drunk laughs and slurred words. Though she found that Neji wasn't slurring or stumbling at all, and he was holding her up.

"How is that fair?" She grumbled. "You can't be good at everything, Hyuuga."

A soft smirk appeared again, though he didn't respond to her. They made it outside and he moved them off the main road into a kind of alley, just so Sakura could have a moment to orient herself. She pulled down her dress, something she'd been doing all night to make sure she wasn't flashing the bar, and frowned.

"So you win, then. Guess I'm still suspended." She crossed her arms over her chest like a stubborn child, glaring up at him.

As she glared, her features slowly softened, arms dropping to her side in surprise. Had he always been that good-looking? Did his lips always look so full and kissable? When did he get so muscular and... attractive? Her mind belatedly wondered if he was as good at kissing as he was at everything else.

She took a step toward him, her fingers rising to touch his lips, curiosity enveloping her and drowning out any other functional thoughts.

"Sakura-"

"Don't talk." She murmured quietly, earning a startled look from her Captain. She didn't give him orders. But he listened, standing still and not moving as her fingers ran along his jaw, down his neck, his hand snagged hers, stopping it at the collar of his shirt.

Before she really knew what she was doing, Sakura leaned forward and found that he was already moving toward her. She'd just wanted to know what it was like, to see if his lips were as soft as they looked. Their lips met and parted and with that one kiss alone, she was lost.

Her hands found the collar of his shirt and she tightened her fists into the fabric and held on, moving her mouth under his, tasting the sake on his lips. He was so strong as he pushed her against the brick wall of the alley, strong as he wrapped his arms around her and lifted her up. Her legs instinctively wrapped around his waist and she let out a gasp as Neji's kisses left her mouth to travel down the length of her neck.

It took her a moment through her hazy desire to remember that she hated this man. And she wanted to hate the feel of his lips against her skin, wanted to push him away and pretend that none of it had happened at all. But her body had other ideas, and none of them included stopping. Sakura loved the way his lips slanted against her mouth, the way his body - all hard muscle - was pressed firmly against hers. Her muscles relaxed in his arms and she tried to pull him closer.

"Neji," She breathed. His lips were hot against her skin and she suppressed a shudder, digging her fingers into his shoulders. It amazed her that Neji, calm and assertive but arrogant Neji could be so reckless and volatile with a woman. The way his hands were gripping her hips, the way his lips were assaulting the sensitive skin of her neck, the way he was pressing her dominantly into the wall... well, she was nothing short of amazed. Neji was a strong shinobi, she supposed it would make sense that he was strong in... every other aspect. Definitely not the talking part, but the pleasure part... the pleasure part he was definitely good at.

**xx**

Sakura lifted a hand to rub over her tired eyes, grimacing at the sharp pain she still felt in her side from the mission. Man did it ever suck not being able to use her chakra to heal. Her head was aching with the remnants of alcohol and she frowned. What had she done last night? How did she let herself drink so much again? At least she'd made it to her bed, which is more than she could say for other nights. She rolled over, moving to stretch out her arms and freezing as her hand came into contact with something warm and hard.

Her eyes snapped open and she looked at the man lying beside her, blood running cold as she recognized the long brown hair splayed around a handsome face. Her mind felt foggy, and she let her head fall into the pillow, resisting the urge to scream.

Did she have sex with Neji Hyuuga?

Looking around the room, she realized that she was most definitely not in her own place. And judging from her lack of clothes and the dull hum of pleasure between her legs, it was safe to assume exactly what had happened.

His bed was in the middle of his room, which was odd, she noted as she sat up. Neji seemed like a guy who liked order, and you'd think his bedroom would emanate him. Which, other than the position of the bed, really did.

The room was completely white, save for the light beige color of his hardwood flooring. One wall was made from floor to ceiling windows, covered with a light, gauzy material that was shifting slightly from the breeze. There was a soft, plush carpet that was big enough to hold his bed and still have six feet on either side of it. A lonely lounge chair pushed off-kilter to one wall, a stack of books on the table beside it, and a dresser on the opposite wall, white and pristine with his _hitai-ate _haphazardly tossed on top of it.

When she looked back to him, she ran a hand over her face and sighed. What would be worse, waking up next to him and having to deal with the effects of a lot of sake right away, or gathering her things, escaping out the side door and dealing with it all the next time she saw him, which if she had anything to do with, would be a long time from then.

Later. She would deal with it later.

She went to stand up, a hand immediately moving to her mouth as she felt the effects of her night of binge drinking. Sakura forced her nausea away, immediately pushing her chakra through her body to eliminate the residual effects of alcohol from her system. There was no way in hell she was going to puke everywhere while she was trying to escape.

Now that her mind was clear and she could function like a normal human being, she moved around his room to gather her clothes. It amazed her how her dress and undergarments had almost literally made it to every corner of his room. The strap of her dress was broken, and she couldn't help but get a sick sort of satisfaction from the fact that Neji had been too impatient to properly let her take it off, and instead had ripped the thing in his need. She pulled her dress over her head, tucking the broken strap under the seam and slipping her purse over her shoulder.

Sakura looked back to the bed, where Neji hadn't moved. But not moving didn't mean he wasn't awake. He could be going through the same thing she was, unsure of what to do, not knowing how to deal with what they'd done last night or how to confront it, and his choice had been to feign sleep, controlling his chakra and his breathing to keep up appearances. With a frown, she turned towards his door, shoes in one hand, and made her way out into the hallway.

In hindsight, she didn't really know what she'd been planning to do by sneaking not _out_ of his house, but into the hallway where she had no other choice but to leave through the front door. It had been a foolish mistake, and she would never, ever, do it again.

Because someone had been right outside his door at that moment, and things just went downhill from there.

She recognized the long black hair and petite frame before she saw the spiky blonde head at her side. They were faced away from her, but Hinata was turning to greet who she thought was her cousin.

And in seconds she felt her heart drop to her stomach and her hand slap over her mouth to muffle a cry of surprise as she jumped back into his room, slamming the door shut behind her. Heart racing and hands sweating, she turned to see if she'd woken the sleeping male up, but he still hadn't moved.

She didn't realize that he still lived in the Hyuuga compound, though she didn't understand why it hadn't clicked in. Hinata and Naruto had been seeing each other for almost a year and a half and it was still a hard task to have her sleep over, which was clearly why Naruto was there now. Apparently, Hiashi liked to keep all of his clan as close as possible.

"Neji-san?" Came Hinata's sweet voice from behind the door. "Is everything okay?"

Sakura took a few steps away from the door, deciding to move to his windows instead. She couldn't be seen by them, especially not after the many times she'd complained to Naruto that she hated him. Hated his arrogance, his pride, hated how much he reminded her of Sasuke. She would be embarrassed beyond belief.

The wall of windows opened up to a lovely, private garden and it would make no sense if there wasn't a door hidden there somehow. She wished there was some easy way to just sense it with chakra, but instead she had to physically go to every window, feelings around the edges for some way to push it open.

Finally, the one closest to the wall pushed open under her hands. She spared one, brief glance back to Neji, still in the same position she'd left him in, and shut the window behind her.

**xx**

She thought the events of the morning could be left alone, at least for the rest of the day. She would do her best not to run into Neji, and if Naruto or Hinata hadn't immediately stormed to her house then there was no way they knew. Naruto was never good at waiting to hear things.

But another wave of panic came when one of Naruto's summons poofed into her kitchen.

Naruto had summoned her to his office, and her mind was reeling with the possibility that maybe they had actually seen her. That Hinata had seen her. She kept trying to convince herself that if Hinata had been sure it was her, she would have called her name through the door and not Neji's. If he brought it up, she would just say it was a routine check from after the mission.

She inwardly applauded her cover story.

Sakura walked to his office slowly, still dreading the conversation they were going to have, moving at a snail-like pace until she stood in front of his desk, hands clenched at her sides.

"What's up." She asked quietly, trying to be as calm as possible. She could play it off if she acted innocent.

"Where were you this morning?" He asked innocently. Sakura tensed up, every muscle in her body frozen in fear. He _knew_. He just knew! Hinata must have seen her! "Sakura?"

"I... I had a lot of stuff to do this morning before work, I'm sorry." She lied, trying to calm herself down. She just had to keep reminding herself that Naruto wouldn't beat around the bush. He would tell her straight up if he thought there was something going on. Something _had_ gone on.

_Neji's firm hands as they gripped her hips, fisted into her hair, tangled with her own hands. His lips as they burned a trail down her neck._

She felt herself panic as the night's events replayed in her mind. She hadn't remembered anything first thing in the morning, and now it was all rushing back her.

"Right..." he responded suspiciously. "That's why I planned it a few days in advance. You've been worse than me with dates lately."

Sakura paused, brows knitting together in confusion. "What?"

"Our ramen date? Breakfast at Ichiraku's?"

She felt an immense weight lift off of her chest. He was just wondering why she'd missed their meal, not anything else. He wasn't suspicious at all! He was just worried.

"Oh god, I'm sorry, Naruto." She slapped a hand to her forehead, trying to sell the act. She had forgotten actually, so it wasn't completely faked. "I've been so busy."

"I can imagine. Having no missions to go on." His voice held that suspicious tone again, and she bit down on her lip, praying that the conversation didn't tilt to where she was thinking it would. "I've been meaning to talk to you."

"Talk to me?"

"About Neji."

Damn it, he knew.

_Neji. He's all over her, his lips, his hands, his scent. _

Sakura's stricken expression and sudden flinch must have only fueled Naruto's suspicions. "What do you mean?"

"Sit down," Sakura complied, perching precariously on the edge of the chair as Naruto watched her. "Obviously the two of you aren't on good terms?"

Sakura almost laughed. "Why would you think that?"

_His body as they undress each other, scarred like any shinobi, but more perfect than she could have anticipated. She traces the pattern of the seal across his forehead and his eyes flutter closed._

"He asked to suspend you from missions, you know that. I had no choice but to let him, he is your Captain and what you did was wrong. But what happened? I've never seen him that angry before."

"It's nothing really." She lied, the discomfort evident in her voice.

_She writhes beneath him but he's pinning her down by her shoulders, strong hands running down the rest of her body._

"If he's said something to you, Sakura, you can tell me. He gets a bit egotistical sometimes, but he never really means it."

"I'll... keep that in mind." She answered quietly, stifling a sigh of relief as Naruto leaned back, relaxed now and seemingly ready to drop the subject.

_He collapses beside her, their hot, slick skin pressed together. His soft breath against the back of her neck as he holds her against him. Eventually, when sleep claims her, he pulls the blankets over top of them._

"I don't want you to take anything his says personally. Like I said, he never really means it."

She let out a breath the second she got out of his office, thanking any God up there that spared her from detection that morning.

**xx**

* * *

**Weeee, okay.**

**Chapitre 3.**

**Hope all of you are having a good weekend so far! And for those of you that are in school - IT'S ALMOST OVER. AND GOOD LUCK ON YOUR EXAMS. If you do have exams you really shouldn't be reading this right now. You should be studying. Tsk tsk.**

**Cheers,**

**EM**


	4. Her Fears

**Review at the end of this chapter. REVIEW. REVIEW, DAMNIT.**

* * *

**xx**

**Dawning: Chapter IV**

**Her Fears**

**xx**

It had been two weeks since she'd seen Neji, and to her knowledge he'd left on a mission three days after the 'incident' as she liked to refer to it. She hadn't told anyone, and she assumed that the proud Neji Hyuuga wouldn't want anyone knowing his business anyway. So it had remained a secret. No one had seen them leave the bar together, so there was no reason for people to assume that they'd been together. But the details of that night were so foggy, she couldn't remember if everyone had left, she couldn't remember if anyone had been in that alley. All she could remember was Neji, and his lips and his hands...

She couldn't believe she'd let herself fall prey to alcohol and lust. Neji was far too similar to Sasuke. Too stoic, too proud, too emotionless, too caught up and focused on one thing to care about anything, or anyone else. And still she didn't understand why she hadn't stopped that night before things got too far. She could blame it on the alcohol all she wanted, but she had been attracted to him. She'd felt what she dismissed as admiration but now realized was desire back on the training field. And she had wanted him that night, wanted him more than anything.

But when someone mentioned him, whether it be Naruto talking about a mission, or Ino just talking about that night - apparently it had been the drunkest Chouji had ever been, he was sick for two days after and she blamed Neji and Shikamaru - she would freeze up as the memory resurfaced, and it terrified her that someone might know.

Sakura ran a hand over her face, putting away the last of her files in the cabinet, ready to get home and relax for the rest of the night. She always missed the familiarity of paperwork. It was comforting and reminded her fondly of her mentor, Tsunade. But it was always a relief to have them finished and up to date.

Her acute hearing picked up a slight commotion outside and she turned to face the doors, one eyebrow raised. There were a few missions scheduled to return today, but all of them had been relatively simple. However, her genin missions could attest to the falsity of mission ratings. Anything could happen while you were out on the field; complications, unexpected enemies, so many things could go wrong.

She put her clipboard down on the counter, gathering with a few nurses as they prepared for the incoming case. Healing one last person wouldn't be so bad before she went home. Shizune was on a short vacation, so she would be the only head medic in the hospital for a while; it wouldn't hurt to stay and help.

A group of men ran through the doors, four of them stumbling over each other as they tried to settle the man they were carrying on a stretcher. The nurses all swarmed the bed immediately, surveying the damage, but Sakura remained rooted to the tiled floor, eyes wide and heart pounding.

"Neji?" Her voice cracked as she recognized the man lying on the stretcher; his body covered in a sheen layer of sweat, hair plastered to his neck and forehead, chest rising and falling in too-quick intervals.

Then she recognized one of the men at his bedside, pumping a useless amount of chakra into the wound on his shoulder - Irochi. "Sakura!"

Her body kicked into action then, advancing on them and immediately moving into medic mode. "What happened?" She demanded, replacing his hands with her own, feeling for the damage. Something had gone right through his shoulder and seemed to be removed, but there were other, smaller pieces still lodged inside. Small shards of metal embedded in his muscles.

"A kunai. The new recruit was standing out of position, Neji went to straighten things out, got a kunai straight through his arm. The idiot pulled it out himself."

Sakura shook her head. Neji was a fool. A damned fool. It was basic knowledge that you didn't pull out anything by yourself. It exponentially increased the rate of blood loss and opened the wound to infections and diseases - it was taught in the academy.

"He wouldn't let me treat it, said it looked worse than it was." Irochi said hurriedly, trying to keep up with the medics as they rolled the stretcher through the halls.

_Hypocrite._

"He was fine until we got through the gates, then he just collapsed."

She nodded once, letting him know that she was listening to what he was saying. She was listening to him explain to her that Neji was an egotistical idiot that she knew would have gone straight home instead of coming to the hospital. She pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, feeling his temperature and hoping that he wasn't going into, or already in, septic shock.

His forehead was burning, and if the sweat coating his body wasn't a good enough sign, she figured he'd been suffering long before he passed out. And even in his unconscious state, his breathing was far too quick, which meant that he most definitely was in shock. She tore the material of his shirt and opened the area for her inspection, grimacing at the sight.

There was an infection around the area, and once again she felt an invasive chakra that didn't want to let her heal around it. But this time she wasn't the one that needed to be taken care of. She could focus her energy on figuring out what it was, and why it was creating this barrier. But first she needed to get those shards out before they made the situation any worse.

Irochi had clotted the blood there, reducing the risk of Neji bleeding out, but the infection was already in his blood stream. She was going to have to do a lot of searching to completely get rid of it, and if she didn't find a way around the chakra blocking her, there might not be enough time.

"You did great, Irochi." He sent her a knowing smile and nodded, taking a step away from the stretcher as they rolled it into a private room.

She started working immediately, mildly aware of the nurses working around her. They were hooking Neji up to an intravenous drip to re-hydrate him and keep up his fluids while Sakura worked on his wound, extracting the shards and removing the infection from his blood stream.

She made a small incision to the right of his collarbone, where one of the shards had lodged itself and successfully removed it, dropping it into a metallic bin that made a distinct 'clink' as the shard made contact. The other four pieces came out relatively easy, but the process took her fifteen minutes.

"Haruno-san, maybe you should take a break. Misaki can handle this, it's not so bad." One of the nurses advised, taking a seat on the other side of their patient to start administering mechanical breathing.

"He's in septic shock, Tonyo." Her voice was hard and curt, because who the hell was she to say 'it wasn't so bad.' It_ was_ bad, and she would be damned if she let someone else take charge and fuck up. "Do you know what can happen if we don't get this infection under control?"

Tonyo gave her a distressed look - she hadn't meant to upset her superior.

"He could go into respiratory distress, multiple organ failure, he could _die_." Her eyes hardened as she counted the time between Tonyo's compressions from the mechanical breathing, ensuring it was up to par. "So don't tell me that Misaki can handle this." She didn't care if she'd already worked a full day, Neji was... he was her... he was her comrade, and she would not stop until he was in stable condition.

Ignoring the hurt look that was on Tonyo's face, she started sending her chakra through his blood stream, feeling for the infection, and isolating what she could to safely remove it.

How could he have been so stupid? Neji had been so adamant that she not let her wound go untreated, and yet he hypocritically let his own injury get infected. If Irochi hadn't gotten him here when he did, if Neji hadn't passed out when he was with other people, he could be dead. He could be lying on the floor of his room, dead.

And why did it bother her so much to imagine living her life without him to boss her around? He was one of the men she hated most. One who constantly disagreed with her, contested her decisions, questioned everything she did. So then why was she feeling so scared that if she didn't do everything in her power to save him her heart would be in a grievous amount of pain?

Unwilling to let herself be distracted by the road her thoughts were taking, she continued to focus on her chakra. On finding the strains of the infection and pushing them out of his body. It was a grueling process - first she had to find the general area, then she had to keep narrowing it down until she found the precise vein that the infection had traveled to. Millions of veins in the human body meant a lot of searching for Sakura.

She didn't know when Tonyo left her seat, but at the end of it all, she realized it had taken her nearly two hours of non-stop searching to get enough of the infection out of his system for him to be stable. Whatever remained could be fought off by his immune system. While she could feel her chakra running low, she couldn't find it in her to stop. He was in a stable condition, the septic shock no longer threatening to push him into multiple organ failure, but his wound was still wide open, and unless she sealed it, all of her work would be useless.

"Would you like a soldier pill, Haruno-san?" Sakura waved the nurse away with a polite refusal, wiping at a trickle of sweat that made its way down the side of her face. "Maybe we should get someone-"

"I'm okay, thank you." Without another word, the nurse left the room.

She started to feel for the invasive chakra that would prevent her from closing his wound without stitches. She had no other way to describe it other than the fact that it was a chakra blocker. But she had never heard of a shinobi being able to transfer it into a human body without some device. The only reason chakra blocks were successful was because they specifically charged items to fasten on to and generate its power from. But this shinobi, like the giant that had attacked her on their mission to capture Nashimura, could transfer it via the touch of a weapon. Had it somehow fastened on to a sort of gel to coat the weapons with? As she made another attempt to diffuse the block, she felt how exhausted she was chakra wise. Had she really used that much?

She sat back and sighed, reaching for the needle and wiry black thread she would need. The chakra would stay there until the wound was completely closed and she would have to look again when she was more rested.

The nurse came back again, asking if Sakura would like her to finish the stitching so she could go home and rest, but she refused, not understanding why she'd done that herself. Stitching was a menial task, taught in the very first days of medic training, but still she declined any help with her patient. With _her _Captain.

He didn't wake for three days.

Sakura was at his bedside for at least five hours a day, staying as long as she could manage before people got suspicious. She didn't know why she wanted to, but she had this indescribable urge to make sure that he was tended to properly, with no mistakes. She would clean his wound, redress his bandages, change the fluid bag for his IV and fluff his pillows.

He looked so innocent while he slept, his features softened and he looked younger than he normally did. Though she supposed everyone looked different when they were unguarded and sleeping. But any softness of his features was nearly ruined by the sheen layer of sweat on his skin as his body fought off the last of the infection. She reached forward, fingers brushing against the marks on his forehead, distinctly remembering how she'd traced it in a similar way when they'd...

Her hand dropped to her side and she averted her eyes. Was their camaraderie going to be ruined because of what happened? Could she not look at him without remembering what they'd done? Was it a mistake? They'd both wanted it, even if the sake did have a vital role in getting them to that point. How much longer could she pretend to be indifferent towards him after the way she had responded when she'd seen him roll in on that stretcher? Her heart had nearly stopped at the sight.

She sighed, taking his hand in hers, feeling the heat that spread through her palm at the touch. "You're a fool, Sakura," she murmured softly as she held her hand against his, smiling as his fingers unconsciously curled around her own.

Was feeling something for him really so bad?

**xx**

The last time he was hospitalized, he'd woken up with a jolt of surprise, fearing that he was still in the forest, either in shock from his wounds, or maybe even fearing he was dead. He had been safe in the hospital, Tenten and Gai were at his bedside ready there to support him through the surprise of being so injured. Those were the people who cared about him the most then. People who waited by your side until you woke up. Hinata was there for Naruto, Tenten was there for Lee now, Ino for Chouji, and who did he have?

Who would be sad if he'd been injured beyond repair? Was this the life fate had given him? One of solitude and loneliness?

His head was hazy, and this time it was less of a waking up and more of a clearing of his mind. Words bubbled to the forefront: _hurt, hospital, drugs. _A soft beeping sound echoed in his head, and he willed it away. He made a weak attempt to open his eyes, but his lids were too heavy, his mouth was too dry, and he was too weak.

A familiar scent gave a more pleasant awakening to at least one of his senses, and he recognized it as vanilla. A mixture of vanilla and hospital regulated antiseptic solution. The smell momentarily distracted him from the incoming headache the incessant beeping was creating, and he needed to know what the source was.

He put more effort into opening his eyes, stubbornly refusing to quit until he had his results. And then he wished he hadn't. Light blinded him, and he grimaced against the assault. He heard heels click on the floor near him, and then the light was gone, replaced by shadows. Another few clicks, and then there was a hand on his shoulder. He opened his eyes to assess his situation, and that's when he saw her.

Her blush-kissed hair was pulled back from her face, save for a few stray stands that she kept trying to secure behind her ears. Her eyes were bright green, even in the dim light of the room he could see them clearly. She was concentrating, hands moving around him, a soft frown on her face. It took him a minute to realize she was bandaging him. He was stiff all over, and it was hard for him to pinpoint exactly where he was injured.

"Haruno?" He wondered why he didn't call her by her first name more often, it was pretty. "What happened?"

She paused her bandaging to appraise him for a minute. A brief passing of relief flooded her features, and she persistently tucked her hair away again. She opened her mouth to speak, but turned away, focusing back on his binding.

"You pulled a kunai out." He grimaced slightly, the memory coming back to him. Pain. Searing pain that shot down his entire arm as the weapon pierced his skin. Then another splintering pain that he thought was senbon, though when he went to pull out the kunai he found there was nothing else. "Your wound got infected because you refused to let Irochi treat it and you passed out just before the gates as your body went into septic shock. If he hadn't been there to save what he could you would probably be dead."

He frowned. "It was a minor wound-"

"It wasn't a minor wound, Neji!" He saw a flash of concern in her eyes. "You could have _died_! You had shards of steel in your shoulder and the infection was so bad I can't understand how you were still functioning! How did you not notice something was wrong?" She took a breath and shook her head. "You're smarter than that."

He remembered feeling off the next morning but dismissed it as physical exertion. He really hadn't thought anything of it. But now, as she tossed his bloodstained bandages in the trash bin, he realized how foolish that had been. But he refused to be confined to a hospital room. He hated hospitals almost as much as he hated their enemies. He rotated his shoulder slightly, wincing at the pain and tried to sit forward.

She forced him back, a stern hand on his good shoulder. "It's better if you don't move."

He let out a low growl and tested out his hand, flexing and unflexing it. There was a brief feeling of discomfort, but it was bearable. He would get back to work in no time. "When can I leave?"

Sakura gave him a surprised look. "Neji you've been unconscious for three days-"

"I feel fine."

"Well you aren't!" She said shortly, pushing him back once again as he tried to sit forward.

He closed his eyes and tilted his face to the ceiling. "Do I have stitches?" He muttered in surprise. Wasn't she supposed to be one of the best at healing with chakra? Why the hell was he going to have to suffer through the extended healing time of stitches? "Aren't you supposed to be one of the head medics?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, tying the bandage off with a tight jerk that made him cringe in spite of himself. "A thank-you would work too."

The scowl she directed at him was unsettling, and he furrowed his brows in response. He was too proud to give her what she wanted; a simple thank-you. It had been his decision to ban her from missions, and he knew that if she'd been on his squad the rookie wouldn't have been there to make a mistake. He wouldn't be in the hospital.

But that wasn't how things happened, and now with the opportunity of giving thanks staring him in the face, he was freezing up. He couldn't remember the last time he'd had to thank someone for anything. He was self-efficient, and he was a Hyuuga. He either did everything himself, or his uncle had someone paid to do it for him.

They fell into silence as Sakura cleaned up the medical equipment, stacking it neatly into a small bag. Neji wished he knew the right thing to say, but there was no way a word of gratitude was going to leave his mouth. He was proud, he was stubborn, and every time he thought about providing Sakura with a small victory over him, he firmly squashed it.

It didn't escape his notice that her hands were trembling, more than likely out of anger for his pompous attitude. She fixed an icy glare on him, though she was trying to retain her professional composure. "I'll tell your uncle you're awake." She bit out before leaving him to his room.

He suffered through his Uncle's visit. Suffered through being reprimanded for making a careless mistake and not efficiently executing a mission. His Uncle claimed him as his own son and was raising him as secondary heir to the clan, but he had a hell of a way of showing it. He sat through a lecture about how to properly lead a squad, to ensure that no member doesn't understand what the mission is about, where they're supposed to be at what time, and to follow strict orders. He decided that even though the mission had been successfully completed, the injury Neji sustained was his own fault.

And as his uncle was scolding him like a child, he realized how similar the situation was to Sakura's altercation. He'd done what he needed to to complete the mission. Even though he hadn't been disobeying a direct order like she had, he understood that her injuries weren't planned, and somehow he felt that lighten the burden he'd placed on her. Yes, it had been her fault for running into an ambush, but she'd done it for the sake of the mission. Just as Neji had done it to save the rookie's life.

Even though he knew that she wasn't impressed with him, he craved her company over that of his uncle. He enjoyed their banter, her frowns, and the fiery look he occasionally got from her, even if the reasoning behind it wasn't all that pleasant. He would have liked to spar with her again, because seeing the sheer determination on her face was oddly imprinted in his mind. He wanted to push her limits, to test her boundaries, to see what her full potential really was.

However, he knew that she wasn't overly fond of him. Not with the way he'd been treating her. He knew she deserved more respect than he was giving her. She'd saved his life and he had been ungrateful. Not ungrateful. He'd been too proud to accept it, but he didn't want her to hate him for it. He would fix things the next time her saw her. Clean up the mess he'd made.

**xx**

Her fear of her own feelings and the conversation she didn't want to have with him kept her away from his room for a few days. She was the head medic on duty in the hospital, but had been intentionally boycotting her duties and passing them off to one of the more skilled nurses. For his room, anyway. But it was that nurse's day off, and she couldn't just skip his room as much as she'd love to. His uncle would throw a tantrum and probably end up getting her suspended from the hospital if he and Neji were anything alike. And then she would succumb to boredom and become a lethargic vegetable.

She turned the knob and stopped when she closed the door behind her, surprise etched on her face. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, arm in a sling as he gazed out the window into the village below. His hair had been removed from its pony tail and was falling freely around him, which made him look sexy and disheveled but in an incredibly purposeful way.

Neji didn't turn to her, but acknowledged her presence by speaking. "Thank you."

Sakura froze and nearly dropped the clipboard she was carrying. Any attempt she was going to make to come off cool and collected vanished in the face of his gratitude.

"I apologize for my behavior." He said, not needing to mention anything specific because they both knew exactly what he was talking about. "It's been a few days. I thought you were avoiding me."

Avoiding him, yes, but not for the reasons he thought. Not because of his rude words, but because of her own selfish fears. "I am." She muttered, checking the level of his fluids and adjusting one of the knobs accordingly.

Neji watched her, his mouth settling into a frown. "Because of what I said?"

"No, Neji." It took him a moment, but the brief flash of realization on his face led her to believe he knew exactly what she was talking about. "I wasn't expecting to see you in here." She said quietly after a moment, breaking the silence. Her plot to avoid him at all costs had been going perfectly until he'd been admitted here. Until she'd found herself panicked at the state he showed up in.

"Accidents happen."

She opened her mouth to speak, but found that any words she'd been hoping to say died on her tongue. What could she say without making herself feel uncomfortable. She was the one who left him that morning, it hadn't been the other way around. She felt a guilty conscience weighing on her shoulders like sandbags. She wanted to reprimand him for being so careless, but then didn't want to go through the potential argument of 'why do you care when you couldn't even stand to see me.'

Sakura felt herself shrink away, as she knew that the awkward silence between them was completely her doing. She was supposed to check on his bindings, to make sure that there wasn't any bleeding, but being that close to him now actually terrified her.

"One of the nurses will be in to run a few tests." She murmured, clutching her clipboard tighter to her chest. She thought she could handle seeing him, and wasn't expecting her emotions to get in her way. There was no way she felt so strongly for him. No way that his thanks had meant that much to her, but they really did. To finally be acknowledged by that stubborn ass... the mixture of that and her own guilt were too much.

She turned towards the door, but his voice stopped her. "We should talk about this, you know."

"No, we shouldn't." She said with a note of finality, refusing to turn around and look at him. "I have a surgery to get to. I'll check up on your results later."

And she was gone.

It was then that he realized his words the other day had hurt her more than he thought. He'd insulted her pride, and she deserved better than the way he was treating her. With a frown, he leaned back on his bed, being careful not to jostle his stitches.

He would never understand women. Their tendencies to be irrational, their annoying habits of avoiding all confrontation if it's something they didn't want to talk about. He didn't want their professional relationship to be compromised because of her foolish actions in not wanting to speak to him.

Neji had thanked her, he'd apologized, and offered to talk about what happened between them when driven by alcohol. What more did she want? A declaration that it was the best night of his life? Because between the alcohol and her clumsiness he'd had better, and what he could remember of it was rushed and sloppy.

His attempt to right things had only proven to make things worse. And he would be damned if she thought he was going to try again. It was her turn.

**xx**

She'd been lounging on Ino's patio for almost two hours, soaking up the warm summer sun, sipping on sweet tea and giggling at the people they watched pass below them. It was relaxing, it gave her time to hang out with her best friend, and it kept her mind off of Neji.

Well, that was until Ino inadvertently brought it up.

"How is your mission withdrawal going?"

It had been almost two and a half weeks since she hadn't been able to take any missions, and she'd become restless. She worked overtime at the hospital, and found any menial thing she could do to entertain herself. She'd started to clean her apartment, which she'd never had time to do before, and even went out a bought another book, because even with the hospital hours, she had too much down time while all of her other friends were on missions. Naruto was an exception, but he was usually busy with Hinata.

And all of this was caused by Neji. Neji who was in the hospital now because of a mission gone wrong. Neji who had caused her a world of worry when he rolled in, sweating and near death from a stupid infection. Neji who had been too stubborn to get it healed.

"It's going."

Neji who she'd slept with. Neji who she couldn't get off her mind. Neji who drove her crazy.

"Do you know how long your suspension is?"

She took a deep breath and turned to look at her best friend. A sense of panic welled up in her chest at the thought of telling Ino, but she had to spit it out. "I slept with Neji."

Ino choked on her tea, coughing and slapping her chest to clear her throat. "I'm sorry, what?" She croaked, putting her tea down on the table.

"I slept with Neji." She said again, though it wasn't any easier getting it out. Ino was too busy staring at her in shock to formulate a response. "And I think I ruined any friendship we might have had."

"Shit, Sakura." The blonde muttered after a moment, shaking her head in disbelief. "All you ever talked about was how much you hated the guy."

"I know. That's what alcohol does to you."

They remained in silence, Ino digesting the news that had just been dropped on her and Sakura waiting to gauge a better reaction from her.

"Was it good?" She asked after a moment, a devilish smirk on her face.

Sakura shook her head. Of all the things Ino could be curious about, she wanted to know was if he was good in bed or not. She grimaced, the memories of it coming back to her. "Yeah," she muttered. From what she could remember, "it was really good."

"Then what the hell is the problem?"

"Ino," She groaned, running a hand over her face. "You can't base a relationship off of good sex."

"Yes, you can." She paused. "You shouldn't, but you can." When Sakura didn't find any humor in that, Ino sighed and put a comforting hand on her arm. "Stuff like this happens."

"Not to me."

Ino frowned. "You said you couldn't look at him?"

She nodded, closing her eyes and trying to distract herself by focusing on the sun heating her skin. "He was admitted into the hospital a few days ago, which I'm sure you know... but I was so worried. And for a minute I thought I almost cared about him... and not just in a friendly way." She let out a frustrated breath. "But then he opens his mouth and reminds me of exactly why I hated him in the first place."

"Have you talked to him about what happened?"

"No!" She said incredulously. "He wants to talk. I just want to continue avoiding him." Because she didn't want any more confusing feelings to rise up.

"Sakura," Ino's tone held a sense of seriousness that made Sakura blink in surprise. "You need to talk to him. Things between you are only going to get worse."

Why was that a bad thing? Knowing that he could make her hate him again after just opening his mouth should have been a good enough hint that she shouldn't even bother. They were meant to have a strictly business relationship; meeting only on missions and occasionally in the ANBU tower. But she couldn't shake the feeling she had when he came into the hospital, when his life was hanging in her hands and it was all she could do to stay calm. If it had taken her so long to tell anyone about what happened, then clearly she was ashamed of it. Ashamed because it had been brought on by the effects of strong alcohol, or that it was with Hyuuga Neji to begin with, she couldn't tell.

"I can't."

"Then I can tell you now that all of his exhilarating missions will be off limits to you for the rest of your life. He's an ANBU Captain, he has that power." Sakura grumbled something incoherent under her breath. Ino knew exactly what would push her buttons. "Talk about it, and the situation will resolve itself."

**xx**

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**Another chapter finished, more reviews to be written.**

**AAAAAAND, GO!**

**Cheers,**

**EM**


	5. Interrogations and Almosts

**I'm slacking. Booo, me. 6 more words. 6000 EXACTLY! WOO!**

* * *

**xx**

**Dawning: Chapter V**

**Interrogations and Almosts**

**xx**

Pacing annoyed her. Even if she did it all the time, it was one of those irritating habits that she just couldn't stand. Like biting your nails or fidgeting. So when she finally realized that she'd been pacing outside of his room for nearly half an hour, she wanted to smack herself. And to further add to her embarrassment, she didn't have a good excuse when one of the nurses asked her what she was doing.

Attributing it to her lack of sleep last night would have made sense, but she knew that she was nervous and anxious as well. Ino had given her sound advice, but the thought of actually going through with the conversation scared her. What was she supposed to say? 'So, we had sex, and it was pretty good, but now I feel like I can't look at you without thinking about it and I'm worried that this is going to affect our professional relationship.'

Winging it was always good. She was a skilled interrogator, and had to improvise on many accounts... how hard could it be to stop worrying about exactly what she wanted to say and dive in head first instead? The hard part really came when she was trying to decide what to argue.

Because she didn't know if she wanted something to come of that night or not.

Denying the feelings that had rushed through her when he came to the hospital was just stupid. She'd felt them, they were there, and they weren't going into hiding anytime soon. They'd been plaguing her mind for a while because she _had_ cared. And _not_ just because he was her comrade, but because she'd actually been scared of losing him. And knowing that confused her too: their relationship before the night at the bar had been fragile - they'd see each other on missions, they would give passing nods in the towers whenever they walked by, but they'd never just sat and had a conversation that didn't involve not insulting each other. They'd never been comfortable enough with each other to do that.

So now, she was going to force him, and herself, into a situation that was completely out of their comfort zone.

Great.

"Sakura?" She whirled around, unsure of who exactly was going to be asking her what the hell she was doing now. It was a shinobi she didn't recognize, and he handed her a scroll. "Hokage wishes to see you."

**xx**

Sakura let out a sigh and flopped into the chair. "How did you swing such comfy chairs again?" She muttered lazily. She missed having time with him, even when it was limited to meetings in his tower, but mostly she was happy that her plans to talk to Neji had been postponed.

"I'm the Hokage, Sakura." And apparently that was a good enough answer. "Down to business, though." She straightened up, sitting properly in her chair as bounced on the edge of the seat. Business could only mean missions, and missions meant she wasn't going to be suspended from them anymore! "The KIS informed me early this morning that Nashimura has agreed to make a statement."

Which, in other words, meant that their methods of gathering it forcefully had proven too much. Though it didn't come as a huge surprise, Nashimura really didn't seem like a guy that had a lot of guts to keep his mouth shut under pressure. "That's great!"

He nodded, though his eyes never left the papers on his desk. "Since Neji isn't in the best shape and hasn't been released from the hospital yet-"

There was a commotion on the other side of the doors, and Sakura turned around to look. What the hell was going on out there? A petite, doe-eyed girl slipped through the door, frantically wringing her hands together. "Hokage-sama, we tried to stop him. But he wouldn't listen!"

Neji pushed through the doors behind her, a composed but furious look on his face. "When is the interrogation?" He demanded, standing behind the chair next to Sakura. Naruto looked decently calm, taking the intrusion in stride as if it happened to him every day.

But Sakura was pissed off. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" She couldn't tell what she was more livid about - the fact that he'd interrupted her chance to get a mission, or that he'd strictly disobeyed hospital regulation.

He spared her a brief, annoyed glance, but otherwise focused back on Naruto. "I heard he was ready to talk."

"You haven't been given clearance from the hospital!" She nearly shouted.

"And you're still on suspension." He retorted. They glared at each other, neither one refusing to look away. It was a small battle, but they were both too competitive to lose at anything.

"Neji, Sakura, enough." He took a breath, feeling like he was dealing with children. "She's right, you need to sign the release forms from the hospital."

That was enough to get him to look away. "What?"

Sakura snorted in contempt and crossed her arms over her chest. "He can't just sign them, he's not even cleared for being out of his room yet."

"I would be if someone hadn't stitched me up instead of using chakra."

"I did what I had to do to save your _life_!"

"Guys!" Naruto yelled, eyebrows drawn together. He never yelled. "That's enough." He turned his attention to Neji but before he could speak Neji was on the offensive.

"It's my mission." Neji argued. "I've been with it since the beginning."

"So have I!" She protested. They'd been working on it together for almost three months.

"You know she can't go alone, I don't know why the thought even crossed your mind." Neji and Naruto shared a look of uneasiness for a moment, and then Naruto sighed, nodding his head slightly. There was something they weren't telling her, but despite how much she wanted to, she couldn't just ask them outright.

"Why the hell not?" Sakura stood up, outraged at being treated like a child. "I don't need to be babysat!"

Naruto cleared his throat and scribbled something on the scroll in front of him. "You're both going."

But that wasn't good enough for Sakura. He'd been so close to giving a mission to her! _Something_ for her to do other than be at the hospital twenty four seven. And now she had to _share_ it? "Naruto he's not ready to be away from the hospital!"

"He's here now, isn't he?" The smug look on Neji's face was enough to send Sakura's anger through the roof. "It's not a strenuous mission. All the two of you need to do is observe. I'm sure that's something he can manage."

"You're not serious!" Sakura shook her head in disbelief.

"I'm very serious." He handed the scroll to Neji and leaned back in his chair. "The interrogation starts in an hour."

**xx**

She was fuming the entire walk to the building. Why did Neji's words seem to coerce Naruto into letting him go with her? Was he that unsure about her ability to take orders properly? She assured him it was a one time thing, and she was still ashamed of her actions then. But seeing the way Neji always got what he wanted made her desire to prove him wrong burn deeper.

The two of them remained behind a one way mirror, and while they were supposed to be analyzing Nashimura as he waited for his interrogator to arrive, she was too flustered about the earlier encounter with Naruto.

"Why did you say I couldn't do this alone?" She asked, stubbornly crossing her arms over her chest to face him.

He looked at her from the corner of his eye and lifted a shoulder. "Because you can't."

"That's not-"

"Because I don't trust you to do anything right, Sakura."

She was too stunned to come up with a witty comeback. Ibiki came into the room then, effectively silencing any noise of protest she could have thought to make.

He had the legendary scowl on his face, his serious demeanor only accentuated by the two jagged scars that ran across his face."Hyuuga-san, Haruno-san, please take a seat."

"No, thank you." They said at the same time, sending a look of discontent to each other. The tension between them was palpable and for a moment they glared. Both remained standing, postures erect, arms crossed over their chests as they watched the room diligently. She took a few steps forward, closer to the mirror in an attempt to distract herself from his harsh words by scrutinizing Nashimura. He was fidgeting, looking just like the man she'd incapacitated with her kunai that was begging for his life. It had struck a chord with her that day; that someone who had committed the crimes he had would beg for his life. Normally they were angry, stoic beings. It had made her question a lot of things, and she couldn't wait to hear what he had to say.

She was pleased that they had Ibiki, a senior shinobi to be in the room. While she wasn't expecting Nashimura to put up any sort of a mental fight, she knew that even the slightest inclination that his interrogator was weak could inspire some hope in him, and they didn't need to deal with that. They just wanted answers. On his operation, on who he was doing dealings with now. She found it hard to believe that he was just a self-proclaimed serial killer with that much man power in his compound.

"Nashimura," Ibiki said lazily when he entered the second room, tossing a folder onto the table. "Jailer said you wanted to talk." Nashimura nodded, clasping his hands together in his lap to stop them from shaking."So, talk."

Ibiki sat down in the chair and dropped a recording device on the table, kicking his feet up on the corner to get himself more comfortable."R-Right." It was always a little bit sad when you saw a grown man, scared out of his wits and stuttering. "My name is Nashimura Hoshigake, born and raised in Kirigakure-" Ibiki sent him a hard look that only succeeded in making him stumble over his words. "I'm a farmer, is what I'm trying to tell you. I'm no serial killer. I was out in my fields, by the main travelling roads, and this guy comes up to me and asks if I want to make a few extra bucks.

"I've got five kids, you see. So any extra income is a benefit. So I said sure, that I'd help him out. He said all I had to do was be his cover. Pose as him, while keeping my own name, of course, just to lead people off his trail. I knew it was illegal, of course I did, but the guy didn't seem that bad and we were going through a hard time. I've been doing that for him for seven years."

"You're a long way from home." Ibiki commented.

"Yeah well, he takes good care of my family. Always makes sure they get some of my income. I get to see them twice a month."

Something clicked in Sakura's mind and she started to consider that his story was the truth. When they'd been planning their mission, they had to track his patterns everywhere. He had made two unanticipated trips out of the county to the East, and they now made sense. Another thing that was making her question the validity of his serial killer status was his confidence level. He was fidgety, he was scatter brained, and she'd never heard anyone talk as fast as he was. Real killers were confident, sure of themselves, and if they'd been caught they wouldn't be releasing so much information. She relayed her thoughts to the room.

"Playing innocent could be his tactic," Neji added, his eyes never leaving the man's face.

"Innocent until proven guilty. That's what we do. Nashimura has never been directly linked to any of the murders." Sakura wanted to believe he didn't respond to her because he knew she could be right, but they fell into silence once again and listened to the conversation unfolding before them.

"Who is this man? The one that you cover for?"

"Name's Kasumo." Another gear clicked into place. "Big guy, also from Kirigakure." The mist, the name, she remembered it all. "He's been killing since before I even helped him. Ravaging villages for sport. Wild animals never even kill for sport. Mankind, especially Kasumo, we're the only ones who think the torture and death of a fellow creature is amusing.. I knew it was wrong, I did, and I'm sorry. Just wanted to take care of my family-"

"Focus." And Ibiki's tone was enough to keep him on track.

"Right. So Kasumo. Big, tall guy with black hair and a spotty beard. He was running the show, I was just a figurehead. Then Kasumo reports to this other guy. Real shady figure, always wears a hood and a thick cloak. I've never actually seen his face - only been in the guy's presence once. Guys around the compound started to call him 'The Snake Man.'"

Sakura absorbed all of this information unblinkingly, but it was strange how things were clicking into place. Nashimura may have just been a figure head, but he had extensive knowledge of the compound, of the hierarchy, and that's why they'd tried to kill him before he could make it out alive. But who was the Snake Man?

Ibiki reached into the folder in front of his, pulling out two pictures and tossing them onto the table. "Do these mean anything to you?"

He scanned them for a moment before nodding and pointing to the picture on the left. "This one. That's what the Snake man wears."

"And the other one?"

Nashimura picked it up, scanning the picture briefly before shaking his head. "I've never seen them before."

"Are those the pictures from the follow-up?" Neji asked suddenly, earning a surprised look from Sakura.

"What follow-up?" But he ignored her, taking a folder from one of the men behind them. He opened it up and frowned, sifting through a stack of photographic evidence as Ibiki came back on the other side of the mirror. His face was still set in a frown, and as Sakura continued to watch Neji look through that folder, she felt like she was missing something.

"So it's not just an old compound they used for convenience. Not if this 'Snake Man' is wearing it."

Neji mirrored his face - serious and frowning. "They could have adopted the symbol after seeing it on the walls."

"That's too much of a coincidence. Which I didn't think you believed in."

"I don't." It was an odd comment, mentioning someone's beliefs. But that was Ibiki, always in interrogation mode, always needing to know what his comrades were thinking, what anyone was thinking. And it was true, Neji didn't believe in coincidences, but he would make up any excuse he could to make it untrue in Sakura's eyes. If she found out before she was ready... "All of the remaining members of that clan are supposed to be dead."

Ibiki nodded. "But we all know things in this world rarely stay that way."

They were silent for a moment, and it was driving Sakura insane. Why was she in here witnessing this interrogation if she wasn't even up to date on all of the information they'd gathered. "What are you guys not telling me. And why?"

The two men shared a look, and she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for an explanation. "Give her the folder." Ibiki ordered. Neji sent him a hardened glare and lifted the folder to his hands, hesitantly holding it out for her to take. She did, and sat down in the chair as she flipped through its contents.

There were pictures of the compound they'd just taken Nashimura from, but it was eerily different. Everything was empty, abandoned, like no one had ever lived there before. But the dates on the back relayed that they were taken just a week after their initial mission. And what surprised her the most were the markings painted onto the wall, some in fresh blood red and white, and others faded with the wear and tear of the building. But they were everywhere, in all of the pictures. How had she not noticed that when she was in the damn place?

Uchiha clan symbols marked nearly every hallway, every door, every possible surface that didn't have anything else on it had one. Varying in size, but always the same symbol. She looked to Neji, who was regarding her with his permanently calm expression, and then to Ibiki, who was giving nothing away with his look. "What the hell is this? Why wasn't I informed?"

"Hokage's orders." Ibiki said shortly. She tried to ignore it, tried to proceed with the curious side of her brain that wanted to know more about the situation rather than why she hadn't been told about it.

"Why is it abandoned?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out. But if Nashimura really is just a figurehead to this Kasumo guy, it would make sense that they cleared out before he could reveal anything to us." Ibiki looked to Neji again, who was still watching her, but refusing to say mind was spinning, so many possibilities had sprung from the sight of that symbol on the wall.

Were one of the Uchiha's alive still? Even though every last member was said to be deceased, and the clan extinct? Madara's death had been the reason for the end of the Fourth Great Shinobi war... if he were alive would they re-mobilize their armies to try and find him? And Sasuke... Sasuke's body was left for dead on the battlefield, taken into the hands of his comrades and Orochimaru."What if it's Orochimaru?" She said suddenly.

It would make sense if he was called the 'Snake Man', after the legendary Snake Sannin. She'd heard him speak, sometimes he really did elongate his 's' and truly sound like a serpent.

"Why would he be contacting a group of mercenaries and a serial killer in an old Uchiha compound?" Ibiki finally spoke, after so long of just gauging her reaction to the folder's contents.

"He was always obsessed with taking Sasuke's body. If he couldn't do that, maybe he decided that impersonating him was well enough." A pause. "And like you said before, that compound is an ideal location - close to three country borders which makes for an easy escape. The compound choice could have been Kasumo's doing."

"We won't rule it out." Ibiki said, glancing back into the interrogation room. "Get one of our junior ints in there." He ordered the other interrogation specialist. "See if they can get anything else out of him."

And then they left, leaving Neji and Sakura in the room alone. And she wasn't going to waste time with small talk. She wanted answers. "Why was this kept from me?" She asked him.

He shrugged, taking the folder back and moving to the door. "You'd have to ask our Hokage."

She ignored the comment again, storing it in the back of her mind. "Are you being a jackass for any particular reason?" He stopped at the door, hand resting on the knob.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The snide comments, the secrets." She crossed her arms over her chest. "We're on the same team here, Neji. We're supposed to know all of the mission details together."

He narrowed his eyes. "Last time I checked, you were suspended from missions until the Hokage was satisfied with your punishment." He turned back to the door. "You're lucky to even be in here."

She felt her anger bubbling, and she tried to take a breath to steady it. She was so nervous about talking to him about what happened, but now she just wanted to get it over with. To put it behind her and move on with her life. They were alone now; why not just take the opportunity? "Is this because I didn't want to talk about what happened?"

"Sakura..." He warned, fist clenching around the door handle. This wasn't the time or place to have that discussion and they were lucky the room was soundproof, because she sure wasn't worried about being loud.

"Is it? If you want to talk about it Neji, I'm all ears. I can't handle you being such an ass all the time when we're trying to work together."

"I was an asshole long before we slept together."

She inwardly nodded in agreement, then realized that he was right, and she was getting worked up about nothing. He was always secretive, and more often than not used one word answers and short, snarky comments to get his point across. It had nothing to do with what had happened between them... now that she thought about it, he didn't even seem affected by not talking about it at all - it was her that was acting like a lunatic and putting thoughts into her own head. "Do you regret it?"

He looked back to her, eyes meeting hers and she felt something pass between them. Maybe it was relief, maybe it was something completely foreign to her, but his words eased her panic. "No."

She took a breath and nodded. "Okay." It was a relief to know that he wasn't bitter about it, at least. It seemed she was the one that couldn't get it out of her mind.

Sakura stood up to follow him out, mind muddled at her own actions. She was startled from her thoughts as someone bumped into Neji, the folder flying from his hands and onto the floor. She didn't know if it was classified information or not, but its contents were scattered everywhere, pictures face up, documents separated.

"I'm so sorry!" The woman apologized, bending to help him clean up the spilled files. "I wasn't watching where I was going, I'm such a klutz."

She was reasonably pretty, for a civilian girl. They didn't have the boosted immune system to never get sick or never have to deal with dermatological blemishes like shinobi did, but her eyes were bright and her smile showed a line of straight, white teeth. Neji, in a somewhat disgruntled mood, simply nodded, picking up the papers and turning his eyes away from her.

"It's fine." He spared a brief glance up at Sakura, who was watching the girl with a frown on her face, and then at the girl herself, who looked down after being caught staring, a blush on her cheeks. Neji let out a frustrated breath and stood up.

"I'm a secretary here." She blurted suddenly. "My name's Aya, so if you ever need anything filed-"

"Thank you." He said curtly, dissuading any option of further conversation. Neji was never overly fond of how many women hit on him on a daily basis. And after the short conversation with Sakura in that room, he really wasn't in the mood for it. But she was persistent.

"Or if there's anything else I can help you with-" He turned to send her a glare, to politely excuse himself from her presence when a shrill scream echoed on the other side of the hall. His body tensed immediately as he scanned the room for trouble, though the only thing slightly out of place was the woman herself. She was maybe thirty years of age, and was holding a photograph in her trembling fingers.

"That's him!" She cried, dropping the picture to the floor. "It's him!"

Her knees buckled underneath her, and it took him less than a second to appear at her side, catching her before she could hit the hard floor. Sakura was on the other side of her, hands already flooded with chakra, examining the woman for any further injuries. He searched for the picture she'd dropped, making sure that it was still in sight so he could gather everything and get out of there.

But when he found the picture, it was in Sakura's hands.

She remained relatively calm as recognition crossed her features. "You recognize this symbol?" She asked suddenly.

The woman nodded, fingers trembling. "He wore this. He wore it! I see it when I close my eyes, it haunts me! He _killed_ them all!"

He knew what the picture was, but he didn't understand why this woman was having such a strong reaction to it. Neji felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned to give whoever it belonged to a sharp look. It was the secretary, and she was staring wide-eyed at the woman between him and Sakura. She bent down to his ear. "That's Mitsukoshi Kaguya."

And that was when everything started to click into place. Mistukoshi Kaguya, the only survivor of the Iron Hills massacre. The only witness to testify to the murder of two Konoha Shinobi; Haruno Kizashi and Haruno Mebuki. His eyes flashed to Sakura's immediately, and he dismissed the annoyed glare she was giving both him and the secretary. It occurred to him that Sakura might not have met this woman yet, and he took the opportunity to make sure she wouldn't.

"Sakura, we need to go."

"He's coming!" Kaguya screamed, thrashing in their grasp. "Those eyes! Those evil purple eyes!"

Sakura gave the woman a concerned look, glancing at the picture one last time before tossing it toward the file on the ground. That was when two men came toward them, one in a pristine white lab coat, and the other in a suit. They advanced to the woman, and Neji took her from Sakura's arms, almost forcefully giving her to the two men. He hauled Sakura to her feet and grabbed the folder, attempting to steer her away from the scene. He could tell her curiosity was piqued, and it was for her own good that she not witness any more of the woman's ramblings.

"Can we talk to her?" Sakura asked. Neji frowned, sending the man a sharp warning look that would ensure he knew the answer he needed to give her.

"Don't think you'll get much out of her. Scarred for life this one, witness to a mur-"

"Get her out of here." Neji said, moving in between Sakura and the man in the lab coat. Anywhere that wasn't in this hallway. The men seemed startled for a moment at being ordered around, but after seeing his Anbu attire, complied and started to drag her down the hall despite her fighting them.

Sakura turned a fiery look on Neji. "Who was that?"

"No one." He muttered, moving between her and the hallway they'd sent the woman down, starting to lead her to the exit. Lying didn't phase him. Not much did anymore. But he was irritated at how bad the whole situation had turned so quickly. They'd been so careful to avoid exposing Sakura to anything to do with the Uchiha's. But because of Naruto and his soft spot for his best friend, she knew they were researching them. She didn't know how extensively, but now she knew. And when her curiosity took over she was hard to turn onto something else."We've got a lot of work to do."

She stopped moving suddenly, planting her feet into the ground and nearly making him walk into her. "I want to talk to her." She turned to follow them down the hall but Neji snagged her wrist.

"You can't."

Sakura fixed him with another glare. "Why the hell not?" When he didn't respond, she crossed her arms over her chest. "You can't keep trying to hide things from me just because it has something to do with the Uchiha."

"I'm trying to _help_ you."

She tore her wrist from his grasp and turned away. "I don't want your help, Neji."

He felt a brief, sharp pain stemming from his shoulder and he sucked in a sudden breath. Which was apparently enough to stop her in her tracks. His hand instinctively went to the area, and he frowned when blood smeared from his black undershirt onto his fingers.

Sakura was in front of him before he could do anything else, and he recognized the soothing feeling that her chakra provided. Her eyes were calculating, watching her hands with a mixture of anger and frustration.

"We need to get you back to the hospital." She clicked her tongue and pursed her lips. "There's a reason we keep you there, you know?"

Neji frowned in annoyance. He was sure that if he'd survived this simple outing with no incidents the hospital would feel more ready to let him out early. But now, especially with Sakura in attendance, he knew that if anything, this was only going to prolong his stay there. And he wanted to get the hell out of that small suffocating room.

A part of him wanted to push her away and send himself home to his clan's doctor, but he hated that man almost more than he hated hospitals.

**xx**

Her face had been set with a frown the entire walk back to the hospital, and every moment up until then. He was sitting on the edge of the hospital bed, refusing to lie back like the nurse had instructed because that would make him feel like he was a patient again. Sakura came in, a tired look on her face as she handed a clipboard to his nurse.

"Take off your shirt." She ordered. He did so without a complaint, eyes set on the wall behind her.

He didn't even get the satisfaction of watching her crumble at his body like most girls did. Like the nurse was doing behind her. Wide eyes, loose jaw, shocked at what he always hid from view. Sakura was going right down to business, hands glowing with her mint-colored chakra, eyes scanning the wound with extreme curiosity.

"I still can't get around that chakra block." She tsked and took a small step closer, so she was almost in between his legs. "What do you think, Tonyo?"

The girl nearly dropped the clipboard when Sakura spoke, and it took Neji a minute to realize that she had still been staring at him. "I- that's... I'm sure you'll find a way around it, Haruno-san."

Sakura sighed. "Could you go into the storage room and grab me the stitching supplies?"

Tonyo nodded, moving past her in such a hurry that she bumped into Sakura, sending her forward. Neji instinctively reached out to steady her, his hand gripping her waist. He could smell what he detected was her shampoo, or maybe a soap, and that made him feel like she was too close. Far too close. "I'm so sorry, Haruno-san, I'm so clumsy-"

Sakura took a sharp breath and a small step away from him. But the step wasn't far enough, and Neji didn't realize until then that his hand was still on her waist. He dropped it immediately, looking away from her, trying to focus on anything other than the way she smelled and the warmth she'd created under his hand. "It's fine, Tonyo, you're all right."

And she scurried off outside the hall, leaving the two in a heavy silence. Neji felt like it was his job to break it. "There's a chakra block, then?"

Sakura swallowed something in her throat before nodding, looking at the clock over his shoulder. "It's why I keep having to stitch you up."

She hated that the simplest touch from him evaporated all of the anger she'd had pent up. But then, that had mostly evaporated the moment she'd seen the blood on his fingers in the interrogation hallway.

"I'm sorry. For earlier, for everything."

"Neji, you don't have to apologize."

"Then what do you want me to do?"

Sakura pulled her lip into her mouth and looked down at her feet. "I want you to tell me that it wasn't something you regret doing-"

"I've already answered that."

She let out a defeated sigh. "I just... I don't sleep around with people, Neji, it's not like me."

"But you did."

"I was mad. I was angry and hurt and my emotions were running high. And all of that mixed with alcohol was just a recipe for disaster."

"You think it was a disaster?"

"No, I-"

"Now I have a question for you." He stood up and took a step closer to her, watching her with steely eyes as he prepared to gauge her reaction. "Do you regret it?"

Her breath caught in her throat as she took in his closeness, but she locked eyes with him anyway, hoping that her stare was as confident as she was trying to make it. "No."

He would never understand the impact that she had on every part of him. The way her eyes watched him, a vulnerability there that was only ever visible if you looked close enough. The sharp intake of breath that she always took when he got to close. The way her lips parted either in anticipation or surprise he'd never know. He stepped again, his fingers reaching up to graze against her cheek.

"Neji." They slid down to her neck, and he took another half step closer so she had to crane her neck to look up at him. Her eyes were searching his face, looking for anything to tip her off to what he was thinking, to what was fueling his actions.

His lips brushed against hers, just a teasing whisper more than anything, but she found her hands moving to his chest and she wasn't sure if they were going to push him away or pull him closer.

And she would never know. ,Because Tonyo burst through the door and made Sakura jumped away from him like he'd burned her.

"Here you are, Haruno-san!"

Sakura's eyes never left Neji's, but she nodded to her colleague, shock overwhelming her system. "Good, that's good." She took a few steps further away and tried to force the surprise away so she could orient herself. "Why don't you stitch him up, Tonyo."

She didn't notice the way Tonyo's face heated up when she looked to Neji, or the way that Neji never took his eyes off of her retreating form because she turned away and left, not stopping to look back at him again.

**xx**

* * *

**ERMAGERSH, WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN?!**

**Remember to review! :)**

**Cheers, **

**EM**


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